Branching patterns of intramural coronary vessels determined by microangiography using synchrotron radiation

• Published in: American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology 1999-06, Vol.276 (6), p.H2262-H2267
• Main Authors: Tanaka, Akira, Mori, Hidezo, Tanaka, Etsuro, Mohammed, Minhaz Uddin, Tanaka, Yutaka, Sekka, Takafumi, Ito, Kunihisa, Shinozaki, Yoshiro, Hyodo, Kazuyuki, Ando, Masami, Umetani, Keiji, Tanioka, Kenkichi, Kubota, Misao, Abe, Sumihisa, Handa, Shunnosuke, Nakazawa, Hiroe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0363-6135; 1522-1539
• DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.1999.276.6.h2262

1  Departments of Physiology, General Surgery, Plastic Surgery, and Cardiology, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara 259-1193; 2  National Laboratory for High Energy Physics, Tsukuba 305-0801; 3  Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, Spring-8, Hyogo 679-5198; and 4  Science and Technical Research Laboratories, Japan Broadcasting Corporation, Tokyo 157-0073, Japan The intramural coronary artery (IMCA) with a diameter of 50-500 µm is critical for blood supply to the inner layers of heart muscle. We introduced digital measurement to microangiography using monochromatic synchrotron radiation and quantified branching patterns of the IMCA, the epicardial coronary artery (EPCA), and the distal ileal artery (DIA). The pre- and postbranching diameters were measured (95-1,275 µm) in seven dogs. A typical arterial segment divided into two nearly equivalent branches, and a regression line of daughter-to-mother diameter plots was almost identical among the EPCA ( y  = 0.838 x    16.7 in µm), IMCA ( y  = 0.737 x    2.18), and DIA ( y  = 0.755 x  + 8.63). However, a considerable difference was present at a segment where a proximal IMCA branched off from an EPCA ( y  = 0.182 x  + 90.2). Moreover, a proximal IMCA diameter had no relationship to the branching order from an EPCA. The precision of this method was confirmed by the good correlation of diameter measurements between two independent observers ( r  = 0.999,  y  =   1.02 x    1.07). In conclusion, using digital microangiography we demonstrated that the self-similar branching pattern of coronary arteries was discrete at the connection between the IMCA and EPCA. coronary circulation; ischemia; vessel branching; self-similarity; regional blood flow