Your healthy heart

Below is a preserved human heart in which the heart (coronary) blood vessels are highlighted. They have been fixed with embalming fluid while some of the overlaying tissue has been removed to reveal the vessels in their full glory.

Figure 1. A view of the coronary arteries, arterioles, and capillaries.

What is apparent is that there are a few key coronary arteries (the bigger root-like vessels) that branch out from the aorta (the big tube at the top) to secondary arteries (arterioles) that eventually further subdivide into a fine mesh of smaller vessels (e.g. capillaries). These vessels supply the heart, especially the heart muscles, with nutrients and most importantly oxygen. Without oxygen the muscles will stop functioning.

Thus, blockage of the key coronary arteries can cut the blood supply to large sections of the heart causing the heart muscles to stop contracting and the heart to stop beating (i.e. a heart attack). Atherosclerosis creates plaques that occlude blood vessels including those in the heart, and is the major cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is the number one killer in America. There are a number of factors that contribute to atherosclerosis including high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. The most accurate noninvasive method for detecting atherosclerosis is the cardiac CT scan. If your coronary arteries are close to being blocked, there are several surgical options available including the insertion of stents to prop the vessel open or a cardiac bypass that replaces the blocked artery.

Please take care of the coronary arteries in your heart; you only have one.