Morphological characterization of the coronary sinus and its tributaries in short hair sheep. Comparative analysis with the veins in humans and pigs

To characterize morphologically the coronary sinus and its tributaries in short hair sheep, this descriptive cross-sectional study evaluated the coronary sinus and its tributaries in 62 hearts of short hair sheep. A semi-synthetic resin (Palatal GP40L 85%; styrene 15%) impregnated with mineral color blue was perfused through the coronary sinus. We evaluated the morphological characteristics and with a digital calibrator the biometrics of the coronary sinus and its tributaries. The length of the coronary sinus (± standard deviation) was 24.85 ± 4.94 mm. Proximal and distal calibers were 7.55 ± 1.54 mm, respectively. It was cylindrical in shape in 44 specimens (71%). The great cardiac vein originated at the apex in 44 hearts (71%), with the caliber of this vessel at the level of the paraconal interventricular sulcus being 2.55 ± 0.62 mm. The arteriovenous trigone was present in 50 specimens (80.6%) and presented a closed configuration at its lower and upper segments in 39 specimens (78%). The left marginal vein was present in 56 hearts (90.3%) and originated at the cardiac apex in 33 specimens (53.2%). The proximal and distal calibers of the middle cardiac vein were 1.74 ± 0.52 mm and 2.17 mm ± 0.71 mm respectively, and originated at the apex in 91.9% of the specimens. Due to the similitude of the features of the coronary sinus in short hair sheep with those of the human being, it is possible to propose this animal model for procedural and hemodynamic applied activities.