Question

A 48-year-old male patient is scheduled to have a coronary arterial bypass because of chronic angina. Coronary arteriography reveals nearly total blockage of the anteriar interventricular artery. In exposing this artery to perform the bypass procedure, which accompanying vessel is most susceptible to injury?

A. Great cardiac vein
B. Small cardiac vein
C. Middle cardiac vein
D. Anterior cardiac vein
E. Coronary sinus

Answer 1

The great cardiac vein is the vessel most susceptible to injury during a bypass procedure on the anterior interventricular artery due to its close proximity, as it parallels the artery along the interventricular sulcus.

Step-by-step explanation:

In a patient scheduled for a coronary arterial bypass due to chronic angina, the coronary arteriography showing nearly total blockage of the anterior interventricular artery requires careful surgical intervention. The vessel most susceptible to injury during the exposure of this artery for the bypass procedure is the great cardiac vein. This vein initially parallels the anterior interventricular artery, also known as the left anterior descending artery (LAD), and drains the areas supplied by this vessel. Because it follows the interventricular sulcus on the anterior surface of the heart and flows along the coronary sulcus into the coronary sinus on the posterior surface, any surgery on the anterior interventricular artery poses a risk to the great cardiac vein.