Great Cardiac Vein
The structure indicated is the
great cardiac vein. The
coronary sinus lies posteriorly on the heart in the
coronary sulcus and receives
four cardiac veins:
- Great cardiac vein
- Middle cardiac vein
- Small cardiac vein
- Posterior cardiac veins
The great cardiac vein lies in the
anterior interventricular sulcus together with the
anterior interventricular artery (
left anterior descending), and for this reason it is sometimes referred to as the
anterior interventricular vein. The great cardiac vein begins at the apex of the heart and ascends in the anterior interventricular sulcus to reach the
coronary sulcus, where it then runs along with the
circumflex artery to the posterior aspect of the heart to drain into the coronary sinus. Learn more about the anatomy of the
venous drainage of the heart in this tutorial.
