The Arteries to the Atria and to the A. V Node

Abstract

In 1924, Spalteholz divided the atrial arteries into three groups—the anterior, intermediate (marginal), and posterior. In almost all hearts there is a main atrial branch which indeed is the term that Baroldi (1967) prefers for such a vessel. This vessel supplies branches to both atria and the atrial septum, but its most important branch passes through and supplies the S.A. node. The artery passes (either clockwise or counterclockwise) around the superior cavo-atrial junction, and in recognition of this course, Gross in 1921 used the term “ramus ostiae cavae superiorus”. Contrariwise in the following year, Crainicianu termed the vessel “the Keith and Flack artery”; eschewing eponyms, James in 1961 used the term “sinus node artery”. The artery does give a large branch to the terminal muscle bundle; however, Spalteholz in 1924 described the branch supplying the S.A. node as the “ramus crista terminalis”. These facts have been stated because these terms appear in medical writing.