Left anterior descending artery
| Left anterior descending artery | |
|---|---|
Sternocostal surface of heart. Anterior descending branch labeled at upper right | |
| Details | |
| Location | Heart |
| Source | Left coronary artery |
| Branches | Septals, diagonals |
| Supplies | Anterolateral myocardium, apex, interventricular septum, 45–55% of the left ventricle (LV) |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | ramus interventricularis anterior arteriae coronariae sinistrae |
| Acronym(s) | LAD |
| TA98 | A12.2.03.202 |
| TA2 | 4143 |
| FMA | 3862 |
| Anatomical terminology | |
The left anterior descending artery (LAD, or anterior descending branch), also called anterior interventricular artery (IVA, or anterior interventricular branch of left coronary artery)[1] is a branch of the left coronary artery. It supplies the anterior portion of the left ventricle.[2] It provides about half of the arterial supply to the left ventricle and is thus considered the most important vessel supplying the left ventricle. Blockage of this artery is often called the widow-maker infarction due to a high risk of death.[3]
- ^ Barbey, C.; Desveaux, B.; Quilliet, L.; de Labriolle, A.; Magdelaine, B.; Krsticevic, L.; Pacouret, G.; Charbonnier, B. (April 2005). "[Angioplasty at the bifurcation of the anterior interventricular artery and diagonal artery]". Archives des Maladies du Coeur et des Vaisseaux. 98 (4): 317–324. ISSN 0003-9683. PMID 15881848.
- ^ Wilson, Alexander; Bhutta, Beenish S. (2022), "Anatomy, Thorax, Coronary Sinus", StatPearls, Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing, PMID 32491498, retrieved 2023-01-05
- ^ Topol, Eric J.; Califf, Robert M. (2007). Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. 283. ISBN 9780781770125. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
The most worrisome type is the proximal left anterior descending (LAD) MI, often referred to as the widow-maker infarction, which carries a high mortality and is attributed to an occlusion of the LAD before or at the first septal perforator.