Venae cordis minimae
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Venae cordis minimae, also called the smallest cardiac veins (venae cardiacae minimae), or Thebesian veins; named after German anatomist Adam Christian Thebesius, who described them in a 1708 treatise called Disputatio medica inauguralis de circulo sanguinis in corde.
The Thebesian veins are number of minute valveless veins in the walls of all four heart chambers. They are more abundant in the right atrium, with the smallest number being in the left ventricle. They originate inside the myocardium and pass through the endocardial layer of the nearest chamber. The openings of the chambers are called the foramina venarum minimarum.
The Thebesian venous network is considered an alternative (secondary) pathway regarding venous drainage of the myocardium.