Skip Navigation

European Heart Journal 1995 16(10):1443-1447;
Copyright © 1995 by the European Society of Cardiology.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by SAID, M.
Right arrow Articles by MÜHLBERGER, V. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by SAID, M.
Right arrow Articles by MÜHLBERGER, V. A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 1995 The European Society of Cardiology

The descending septal branch (Bonapace's branch)

A case report and literature review of this often forgotten branch.

M. SAID and V. A. MÜHLBERGER

Invasive-Interventional Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Innsbruck Tirol, Austria

revised 4 January 1994; accepted 27 January 1995.

Correspondence: Dr Michael Said, Invasive-IntcrventioneUe Kardiologie, MediziniscbeUniversitätsldinik, Anichstr. 35, A-6020-Innsbruck, Austria.

Abstract

We present a 51-year-old female with exertional angina pectoris and a normal coronary angiogram who had a prominent descending septal branch originating from the proximal right coronary artery. This branch was perfused in the antegrade direction and did not show the tortuosity typical of coronary collaterals. The branch was almost 1 mm in diameter and supplied the middle third and basal two-thirds of the interventricular septum. The right coronary artery and this branch were free of coronary obstructions.

The descending septal branch, described in 1921 by Crainicianu in a postmortem study, occurs in 12 to 85% of human hearts, but is still widely unknown. A review of the literature is also provided with special consideration of the functional importance of the condition and its prevalence in human and animal hearts. As far as we are aware, such a well developed descending septal branch in human hearts has not been described before. This is also the first description of a descending septal branch in vivo.

Key Words: Adult • animal • branch • coronary angiography • coronary vessel-anatomy • human • right • variability


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.