Luminal Diameters of Major Coronary Arteries

Abstract

Background: To measure the luminal diameters of major coronary arteries through micrometry.
Methods: In this descriptive study, after incising pericardium, 0.5cm long segments of major coronary arteries i.e. right coronary artery (RCA), left anterior descending artery (LAD) and left circumflex artery (LCX) were taken at their origin, from adult male cadavers of up to 36 years age. After processing for paraffin embedding, 5μm thick sections were prepared, mounted on glass slides and subsequently stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Luminal diameter for each section was measured through micrometry, at four places along the planes at 45º to each other.
Results: The mean luminal diameters of major coronary arteries i.e. RCA, LAD and LCX were 1.54 ±0.46 mm, 1.48 ±0.31 mm and 1.37 ±0.56mm respectively.
Conclusion: The mean luminal diameters of major coronary arteries in Pakistani population are lower than those reported in international literature. This might be due to geographic and / or ethnic variation(s) in the histological structure of coronary arterial wall