EN
Background: The area of vascular supply of particular coronary arteries is directly linked to the varying typology of the coronary vasculature. This factor may have a significant influence on the coronary vessel diameters. To date there has been no published research that analyses the relationship between the type of coronary vasculature and the dimensions of the epicardial arteries in the human foetus. There are only a few papers that deal with this issue in the postnatal period of human life. Material and methods: The study was carried out on a group of 187 human foetuses aged five to seven months of intrauterine life. Prior to examination all foetuses had been conserved in a 9% formaldehyde solution for a minimum of three months. All foetuses had been aborted naturally. None of them had any external signs of malformations or developmental abnormalities. The number of foetuses in the particular age groups was variable. Adachi/Bianchi classification was used to categorize the particular vasculature types: type I — classic, neither artery is dominating; type II — dominant right coronary artery; type III — dominant left coronary artery. Results and conclusions: The analysis of differences between the artery dimensions in particular types of coronary vasculature revealed that such differences existed between types I and II and also between types II and III. (Folia Morphol 2011; 70, 1: 13–17)