The term epicardial refers to arteries located where?

The term epicardial refers to arteries located where?

• A. Large surface arteries on the heart's outer surface
• B. Small intramyocardial arteries
• C. Veins draining the heart
• D. Arteries supplying the lungs

Answer: (A)

The main idea is that epicardial arteries are the coronary arteries that lie on the outer surface of the heart, on the epicardium, supplying the heart muscle with blood. These are the large surface arteries you’d find running along the heart’s exterior, just beneath the pericardium. Intramyocardial arteries, by contrast, are small vessels that penetrate into the heart muscle itself. Veins draining the heart are not arteries at all, and arteries that supply the lungs are the pulmonary arteries, part of the lung circulation, not the coronary system. So the best description is the large surface arteries on the heart’s outer surface.

The main idea is that epicardial arteries are the coronary arteries that lie on the outer surface of the heart, on the epicardium, supplying the heart muscle with blood. These are the large surface arteries you’d find running along the heart’s exterior, just beneath the pericardium. Intramyocardial arteries, by contrast, are small vessels that penetrate into the heart muscle itself. Veins draining the heart are not arteries at all, and arteries that supply the lungs are the pulmonary arteries, part of the lung circulation, not the coronary system. So the best description is the large surface arteries on the heart’s outer surface.