Left anterior descending

Looks like

A coronary artery running down the groove on the front of the heart between the two ventricles.

What it does

Feeds the front wall of the left ventricle and most of the septum — the largest share of the main pump.

Keeping it well

A blockage here causes the largest heart attacks. Crushing chest pain, especially with sweating, breathlessness or pain into the arm or jaw, means an ambulance, now; opening the artery within hours saves heart muscle.

Its parts

• Diagonal branch of anterior descending branch of left coronary artery
• Conus branch of anterior interventricular branch of left coronary artery
• First right anterior branch of anterior interventricular branch of left coronary artery
• Second right anterior branch of anterior interventricular branch of left coronary artery
• Third right anterior branch of anterior interventricular branch of left coronary artery
• Trunk of anterior interventricular branch of left coronary artery

Related conditions

• 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (DiGeorge)
• Aortic stenosis
• Atrial flutter
• Cardiomyopathy (dilated, restrictive, arrhythmogenic)
• Chagas disease
• Congenital heart defects
• Coronary artery disease
• Diphtheria
• Down syndrome (trisomy 21)
• Eating disorders
• Extra heartbeats (ectopics and palpitations)
• Fainting (syncope)
• Friedreich's ataxia
• Heart attack
• Heart failure
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
• Hypothermia & frostbite
• Kawasaki disease
• Long QT syndrome
• Metabolic syndrome
• Myocarditis
• Orthostatic hypotension & POTS
• Panic disorder
• Pericardial effusion & tamponade
• Pericarditis
• Peripheral artery disease
• Phaeochromocytoma & hyperaldosteronism
• Pre-eclampsia
• Raynaud's phenomenon
• Sepsis
• Shock (circulatory failure)
• Sudden cardiac arrest
• Sudden infant death syndrome
• Supraventricular tachycardia
• Takotsubo (stress) cardiomyopathy
• Tuberous sclerosis complex
• Vasculitis (GCA & others)
• Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome