Description
The venous drainage of the heart is completed by the cardiac veins. There are two components to the cardiac veins.
- The larger vessels are the subepicardial cardiac veins, which drain the exterior portion of the myocardium and largely shadow the arterial supply. The smaller veins unite to form three larger cardiac veins, including the great, middle, and the small cardiac veins. These drain into the coronary sinus where the deoxygenated blood is returned to the right atrium.
- The smaller vessels drain the innermost myocardium and drain primarily directly in the right atrium. This system includes the smallest cardiac veins or Thebesian veins.
