TREE STRUCTURE AND BRANCHING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RIGHT CORONARY-ARTERY IN A RIGHT-DOMINANT HUMAN HEART

The hierarchic branching tree structure of the right coronary artery i n a right-dominant human heart is examined in terms of detailed measur ements of lengths and diameters of the individual vessel segments comp rising the structure. The results show that, while the right coronary artery in this heart does not supply a large portion of the posterior left ventricular wall, it nevertheless serves the left side of the hea rt to a greater extent than it does the right side in terms of the num ber and volume of vessel segments involved. The results show further t hat on the right side of this heart the right coronary artery exhibits clear features of a 'distributing' vessel, but these features change abruptly as the vessel reaches the small region of the posterior left ventricular wall which it serves.