Coronary collateral circulation in the pig: correlation of collateral flow with coronary bed size.

Coronary bed sizes were measured in pigs. The left anterior descending bed occupies about 31% of the heart, the right coronary bed about 38% of the heart and the left circumflex bed about 31% of the heart is (including atria). The right coronary artery supplies about 81% of the right ventricle and 23% of the left ventricle with its blood supply. The remaining portion of the right ventricle is supplied by the LAD. The collateral circulation was measured in each of the 3 coronary beds using tracer microspheres. Measurements, are in ml/min/100 g. Transmural collateral flow in the LC is 5.6, the LAD 1.0, the RC in LV 3.7 and the RC in RV 4.3. Our experiments showed that the coronary bed sizes were relatively uniform in pigs, but that collateral flow was significantly different between the beds.