Key Points
- To investigate whether microcirculatory networks overlap or interconnect at the boundaries between adjacent coronary artery territories in the heart.
- Perfused separate canine coronary arteries using differently colored silicone-rubber compounds to visualize adjacent microcirculatory beds.
- Examined the junctional zones where capillary beds from individual coronary vessels abut each other.
- Capillaries originating from distinct large coronary vessels remain completely separate with no interconnections across abutting microcirculatory territories.
- Terminal capillaries loop back on themselves rather than forming anastomoses with vessels from neighboring coronary networks.
Structured PICO
PPopulationCanine coronary arteries
IInterventionSeparate perfusions with colored silicone-rubber compound
OOutcomeAnatomic arrangement of capillaries where two microcirculations abutsurrogate
The discovery of discrete end-capillary loops without interconnections in canine hearts provides an anatomic explanation for discrete myocardial infarctions lacking ischemic border zones.