Dominance or balance? Revisiting the coronary arteries of the domestic cat

Abstract

Studies on the behavior of coronary arteries were developed in several species to elucidate variations in their distribution and their morphofunctional correlations, such as the types of irrigation and possible risks of infarction. With the increased frequency of domestic felines in the clinical routine of small animals, requiring the specialization of professionals capable of knowing and considering the morphological differences for a more assertive clinical diagnosis, this study aimed to identify the origin and distribution of coronary arteries in domestic cats. Twenty-nine specimens of domestic cats, fifteen females, and fourteen males, were fixed in a 10% formaldehyde solution, injected with liquid latex stained with a synthetic dye, placed in a 10% formaldehyde solution for at least seven days, and then dissected. The determination of the coronary dominance pattern was based on the origin of the subsinuous interventricular branch defined as right, left, or balanced dominance. The dominance pattern in domestic cats was determined as balanced (69%) and left (31%), contrary to the current literature for animal anatomy. The presence of anastomosis between the coronary arteries and the myocardial bridge was also observed in some individuals. Our results reinforce the existence of interspecific particularities in domestic carnivores. In this context, the description of the coronary arteries in domestic cats contributes to the applied animal anatomy since the understanding of the vessels that nourish the myocardium allows for a more assertive anatomopathological analysis of the species.