Great cardiac vein
Vena cardiaca magna
CardiovascularOrgansThorax
- What it is
- Begins near the apex, ascends in the anterior interventricular groove beside the LAD, then turns left in the atrioventricular groove alongside the circumflex artery to become the coronary sinus at the back of the heart.
- Function
- Drains blood from the territory of the left coronary artery (front of both ventricles and the septum).
- Size
- About 2–3 mm wide, widening to ~4 mm near the coronary sinus.
- Clinical note
- The coronary sinus and great cardiac vein are the route used to place the left-ventricular lead of a biventricular pacemaker (CRT).