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Morphology of the Myocardial Microcirculation

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Microcirculation of the Heart

Abstract

The small arteries of the heart wall can be placed in two main categories (1) the direct, anatomical vessels which supply the heart muscle and (2) the anastomotic channels which connect them. The anatomical blood supply is perfect in its architecture and the product of millions of years of evolutionary design. As a result it is not only highly efficient but has a reserve capacity to meet the requirements of exertional stress — upon which survival of the species has depended. By contrast, coronary arterial anastomoses are of importance only in disease. Having no evident normal physiological function, they can surely have had no evolutionary influence. Even when enlarged in disease they have little or no reserve capacity to meet the extra needs of stress.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materia Medica, Stobhill General Hospital, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G21 3UW, Scotland, UK

    W. F. M. Fulton

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  1. W. F. M. Fulton
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Innere Medizin III, Kardiologie, Med. Univ.-Klinik, Bergheimer Straße 58, Heidelberg, 6900, Germany

    Harald Tillmanns  & Wolfgang Kübler  & 

  2. Kurklinik Fürstenhof, Bad Wildungen, 3590, Germany

    Horst Zebe

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© 1982 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Fulton, W.F.M. (1982). Morphology of the Myocardial Microcirculation. In: Tillmanns, H., Kübler, W., Zebe, H. (eds) Microcirculation of the Heart. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68485-2_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68485-2_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-11346-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-68485-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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