Myocardial bridges: An Ultra Structural Study.

Introduction: The heart is supplied by right and left coronary arteries. Coronary arteries are physiological end arteries but not anatomical. Coronary arteries are normally epicardial in position except in some cases where a segment of coronary artery is overlapped by a bunch of cardiac muscle fibres. This pattern of arrangement of cardiac fibres over a segment of coronary artery is known as myocardial bridging. Presence of myocardial bridges causes atherosclerotic changes in the pre bridged segment and bridged segment is spared from atherosclerosis. Material and Methods: A total number of 200 heart specimens were observed for this study. A fresh non MLC specimens were included for scanning electron microscopic study. Results: Pre bridged segment of coronary vessel presented the thick tunica intima with atherosclerotic formation. The Polygonal epithelial cells were seen on the surface. In tunica intima plenty of elastic fibres were observed. Tunica media presented a clear muscular component with loose connective. Our present results are correlating with previous histology studies. Conclusion: Myocardial bridges are not an uncommom condition. Many histological studies are available in the review. In our study also we found the same conclusions as histological studies. The pre bridged segment is more prone for atherosclerotic changed than the bridged segment of coronary artery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]