In the
anatomy
Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...
of the
heart
The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...
, the valve of the coronary sinus (also called the Thebesian valve, after
Adam Christian Thebesius[A. C. Thebesius. Disputatio medica inauguralis de circulo sanguinis in corde. Doctoral dissertation, Leiden, 1708.]) is a
valve
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...
located at the orifice of the
coronary sinus
The coronary sinus () is the largest vein of the heart. It drains over half of the deoxygenated blood from the heart muscle into the right atrium. It begins on the backside of the heart, in between the left atrium, and left ventricle; it begi ...
where the coronary sinus drains into the
right atrium
The atrium (; : atria) is one of the two upper chambers in the heart that receives blood from the circulatory system. The blood in the atria is pumped into the heart ventricles through the atrioventricular mitral and tricuspid heart valves.
...
.
It prevents blood from flowing backwards into the coronary sinus during contraction of the heart.
Anatomy
The valve of the coronary sinus is a thin, semilunar (half-moon-shaped) valve located on the anteroinferior part of the opening into the right atrium.
It is formed by a semicircular fold of the lining membrane of the right
atrium. It is situated at the base of the
inferior vena cava
The inferior vena cava is a large vein that carries the deoxygenated blood from the lower and middle body into the right atrium of the heart. It is formed by the joining of the right and the left common iliac veins, usually at the level of the ...
.
Variation
The valve may be completely absent;
[P. Felle, J. G. Bannigan. ''Anatomy of the valve of the coronary sinus (thebesian valve)''. Clinical Anatomy. Vol. 7 (1), 10-12]
Abstract
/ref> it is present in 73-86% of individuals.
Function
The valve prevents regurgitation of blood into the sinus during systole
Systole ( ) is the part of the cardiac cycle during which some chambers of the heart contract after refilling with blood. Its contrasting phase is diastole, the relaxed phase of the cardiac cycle when the chambers of the heart are refilling ...
(i.e. the contraction of the atrium).
References
{{Authority control
Cardiac anatomy