Aortic sinus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Aortic sinus
Gray497.png
Aorta laid open to show the semilunar valves. (Aortic sinus labeled at upper left.)
Latin sinus aortae
Gray's subject #138 535

An aortic sinus is one of the anatomic dilations of the ascending aorta, which occurs just above the aortic valve.

There are generally three aortic sinuses: the left posterior, the anterior, and the right posterior.

  • The left posterior aortic sinus gives rise to the left coronary artery.
  • The anterior aortic sinus gives rise to the right coronary artery.
  • Usually, no vessels arise from the right posterior aortic sinus, which is therefore known as the non-coronary sinus.

Each aortic sinus can also be referred to as the sinus of Valsalva, the sinus of Morgagni, the sinus of Mehta, the sinus of Otto, or Petit's sinus.

See also [edit]

External links [edit]