coronary artery, one of a pair of arteries that branch from the aorta, including the left and the right coronary arteries. Because these vessels and their branches supply the heart, any dysfunction or disease that affects them can cause serious, sometimes fatal complications. Coronary arterial anastomoses occur throughout the heart and are especially numerous within the interventricular and interatrial septa, at the apex of the heart, at the crux, over the anterior surface of the right ventricle, and between the sinus-node artery and the other atrial arteries. These anastomoses are more numerous and larger in the epicardium than in the endocardium, and they provide important collateral circulation in the recovery of patients who suffer coronary occlusions. The branches of the coronary arteries are affected by many different disorders, such as embolic, neoplastic, inflammatory, and noninflammatory diseases.
