Human Anatomy, Part 2 - K. A. Dyubenko, A. K. Kolomiytsev, Yu. B. Chaikovsky 2008

Special Part
Cardiovascular System, systema cardiovasculare — Special Part
Heart — Structure of the Heart — Structure of the Heart Walls — Cardiac Veins

Venous Blood from The Heart walls drains primarily into the coronary sinus, sinus coronarius, which empties into the right atrium (Fig. 17). To a lesser extent, blood also drains directly into the right atrium via the anterior cardiac Veins, vv. cordis anteriores, and the smallest cardiac veins, vv. cordis minimae (Thebesian veins).

The coronary sinus, sinus coronarius, is formed by the convergence of the following veins:

The great cardiac vein, v. cordis magna, which drains blood from the anterior Regions of the heart, runs upward along the anterior interventricular sulcus and then turns left onto the posterior surface of the heart, where it directly continues into the coronary sinus.

The posterior VEINS OF THE left ventricle, vv. ventriculi sinistri posteriores, which drain blood from the posterior wall of the left ventricle.

The oblique vein of the left atrium, v. obliqua atrii sinistri, which drains venous blood from the left atrium.

The middle cardiac vein, v. cordis media, which runs in the posterior interventricular sulcus and drains the adjacent areas of the ventricles and the interventricular septum.

The small cardiac vein, v. cordis parva, which runs in the right part of the coronary sulcus and empties into the middle cardiac vein.

The venous System of the coronary sinus provides the venous drainage from all PARTS OF THE heart, with the exception of the anterior wall of the right ventricle, from which blood drains via the anterior cardiac veins. The smallest cardiac veins (Thebesian veins) originate from the cardiac venous sinusoids and empty mainly into the right side of the heart.

The Thebesian veins are found in all parts of the heart (S. P. Ilyinsky, 1952). They are more numerous in the right atrium than in the left, being located primarily on the medial wall around the margin of the fossa ovalis. In the left ventricle, they are particularly abundant in the region of the cardiac apex and at the Base of the papillary Muscles, whereas in the right ventricle they are concentrated in the conus arteriosus. Numerous anastomoses exist between the cardiac veins, forming a well-developed network between the veins of different systems, which is most pronounced in the region of the cardiac apex. Intra-organ veins within the layers of the heart wall form venous plexuses. These are classified into: sub- and endocardial, intramuscular, and the most robust subepicardial venous plexus (S. S. Mikhailov, 1955).

Lymphatic drainage is directed into the subepicardial Lymphatic vessels. Lymphatic vessels are present in all layers of The Heart and originate from intramural networks of lymphatic capillaries. Efferent lymphatic vessels run alongside the Branches of the CORONARY Arteries AND drain into the anterior mediastinal and tracheobronchial Lymph Nodes.