title: Origin of the sinoatrial and atrioventricular nodal arteries in South Indians: an angiographic study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To study the arterial supply of the conducting system and its correlation with the dominance of the coronary arteries in the South Indian population.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine angiographically the origins of the sinoatrial nodal artery (SAna) and atrioventricular nodal artery (AVna) in Indians.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 300 consecutive patients (114 females, 186 males; mean age, 55 years) living in the southern coastal region of India, who underwent coronary angiography either for the symptoms of chest pain, angina pectoris or positive Treadmill Test. The angiograms contained both coronary arteries (right and left) in the right and left anterior oblique position. The origin of SAna and AVna from the coronary arteries was observed and correlated with the arterial dominance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The SA (sinoatrial) node was supplied by the right coronary artery (RCA) in 53% of the cases, by the circumflex (Cx) branch of left coronary artery (LCA) in 42.66%, and by both coronary arteries in 4.33% of cases. The AV (atrioventricular) node was also more often supplied by the RCA (72.33% of cases) than by the Cx branch of the LCA (27.66%), and surprisingly in none of the cases was this node supplied by both coronary arteries.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of the present study may help cardiac surgeons, particularly in surgeries related to certain valvular disorders, due to the proximity of the nodal branches to the valve complex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Centre for Basic Sciences, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Lakshmi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ramanathan
authors.forename: Prakash
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shetty
authors.forename: Soubhagya R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Nayak
authors.forename: Ashwin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krishnamurthy
authors.forename: Ganesh K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Chettiar
authors.forename: Annamalai
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chockalingam
mesh_terms: D001283:Atrioventricular Node / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003326:Coronary Circulation; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011859:Radiography; D012849:Sinoatrial Node / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging