Cardiac morphometry and distribution of coronary arteries in New Zealand rabbit (Oryctolagus cunniculus)

ABSTRACT. Correia-Oliveira M., Oliveira I.M.S., Roza M.S. & Abidu-Figueiredo M. [Cardiac morphometry and distribution of coronary arteries in New Zealand rabbit (Oryctolagus cunniculus).] Morfometria cardíaca e distribui- ção das artérias coronárias em coelhos Nova Zelândia (Oryctolagus cunniculus). Revista Brasileira de Medicina Veterinária 36(2):159-166, 2014. Área de Anatomia Animal, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, BR 465 Km 7, Seropédica, RJ 23890-000, Brasil. E-mail: marceloabidu@gmail.com The rabbit heart has been frequently used as an experimental model to study regional ischemia. However some aspects of their macro anatomy still need a more detailed description, especially the cardiac arterial vascular system, which has a huge variability in distribution and trajectory. Thirty cadaveric adult New Zealand rabbits, 15 of each sex, with an average weight and rostrum-sacral length of 2.5 kg and 40 cm, respectively, were used. The thoracic aorta was cannulated and the vascular system was filled with stained latex S-65. The aim of this study was to determine the cardiac morphometry and main branches of the coronary arteries in New Zealand rabbits. The left coronary artery showed a bifurcation pattern with paraconal interventricular and left ventricular marginal branch in 86.66% of males and 93.33% of females and a trifurcation pattern with paraconal interventricular, left ventricular marginal and left circumflex branch in 13.33% of males and 6.66% of females. The paraconal interventricular branch occupied the groove of the same name in 13.33% of males and 46.66% of females. The sinuous interventricular branch occupied the groove in only 20% of males. This study showed no statistical difference between the measurements of height, width and thickness of the heart between both sexes.