Biomaterial Database

The role of the internal thoracic artery in the sternal blood supply. 1993

F W Knudsen, and M Andersen, and U Niebuhr, and P L Nielsen, and C Krag

Department of Plastic Surgery, University Hospital, Gentofte, Denmark.

The altered arterial supply to the sternum after use of the internal thoracic artery in coronary bypass surgery was studied by delineation of the sternal arterial system with plastic material and by injection of ink/barium contrast for radiography and microscopy. The study was performed on 17 anterior chest walls from human cadavers. The total arterial supply was charted before and after 'harvest' of the internal thoracic artery. The dominant blood supply to the sternum was found to be periosteal and derived almost exclusively from branches of the internal thoracic artery. Following harvest of that artery, the arterial supply to the upper part of the corpus sterni was compromised, and based only on sparse ramifications to the periosteal membrane from the thoracoacromial artery via branches from the pectoralis major muscle.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D002102	Cadaver	A dead body, usually a human body.	Corpse,Cadavers,Corpses
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000368	Aged	A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available.	Elderly
D001026	Coronary Artery Bypass	Surgical therapy of ischemic coronary artery disease achieved by grafting a section of saphenous vein, internal mammary artery, or other substitute between the aorta and the obstructed coronary artery distal to the obstructive lesion.	Aortocoronary Bypass,Bypass, Coronary Artery,Bypass Surgery, Coronary Artery,Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting,Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery,Aortocoronary Bypasses,Artery Bypass, Coronary,Artery Bypasses, Coronary,Bypass, Aortocoronary,Bypasses, Aortocoronary,Bypasses, Coronary Artery,Coronary Artery Bypasses
D013249	Sternum	A long, narrow, and flat bone commonly known as BREASTBONE occurring in the midsection of the anterior thoracic segment or chest region, which stabilizes the rib cage and serves as the point of origin for several muscles that move the arms, head, and neck.
D013895	Thoracic Arteries	Arteries originating from the subclavian or axillary arteries and distributing to the anterior thoracic wall, mediastinal structures, diaphragm, pectoral muscles, mammary gland and the axillary aspect of the chest wall.	Arteries, Thoracic,Artery, Thoracic,Thoracic Artery