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Coronary Arteries

The coronary arteries are the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart muscle. They branch off of the aorta at its base. Blockage of these arteries is a common cause of angina, heart disease, heart attacks, and heart failure. The right coronary artery (RCA), the left main coronary, the left anterior descending (LAD), and the left circumflex artery, are the four major coronary arteries.

The vena cava are the large blood vessels (veins) that enter the right side of the heart, returning oxygen poor blood back to the heart from the body.

The pulmonary artery exits the right side of the heart and takes oxygen poor blood to the lungs where it is enriched with oxygen. The pulmonary veins take oxygen rich blood from the lungs to the left side of the heart. The left side of the heart then pumps blood out to the body.

Figure 1: External view of the coronary arteries.

Figure 1: External view of the heart.

Figure 2: Cut section of the heart.

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Visit Cardiac Care Network of Ontario for more information.