Cardiac MRI > Anatomy > Coronary Artery Anatomy
Coronary Artery Anatomy
The coronary arteries originate from the proximal portion of the ascending aorta from the Sinuses of Valsalva. The two coronary arteries arising from the aorta are the right coronary artery (RCA) and the left main coronary artery (LM). The LM branches into the left anterior descending (LAD) and left circumflex (LCx) arteries.
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Above are two images from a coronary MRA obtained using 2-D gradient echo and fat suppression. In the image on the left, the left main coronary artery (LM) branches into the left anterior descending (LAD) and left circumflex (LCx) arteries. In the image on the right, the right coronary artery (RCA) can be seen originating from the aortic root. Proper cardiac gating is crucial to resolve this level of detail.
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