Cardiac Anatomy Mnemonics

By : Dr. Subrahmanyam Karuturi

> Posterior mediastinum: contents DATES:
 Descending aorta
 Azygos and hemiazygous veins
 Thoracic duct
 Esophagus
 Sympathetic trunk/ganglia

> Thoracoacromial trunk: branches "Cadavers Are Dead People":
 Clavicular
 Acromial
 Deltoid
 Pectoral

> Thoracoacromial artery branches ABCD:
 Acromial
 Breast (pectoral)
 Clavicular

 > Thoracoacromial artery branches "CAlifornia Police Department":
 Clavicular
 Acromial
 Pectoral
 Deltoid

> Branches of Internal Iliac Artery "I Love Going Places In My Very Own Underwear":
 Ileolumbar
 Lateral sacral
 Gluteal (superior and inferior)
 Pudendal (internal)
 Inferior vesicle (uterine in females)
 Middle rectal
 Vaginal
 Obturator
 Umbilical

> Internal iliac artery: anterior branches What Bill admitted to Hilary: "I Milked Our Insatiable Intern's Udders Under the Desk":
 Inferior gluteal
 Middle rectal
 Obturator
 Inferior vesical artery
 Internal pudendal artery
 Umbilical
 U/D=Uterine artery (female)/ Deferential artery (male)

> Internal iliac artery: posterior branch PILS:
 Posterior branch
 Iliolumbar
 Lateral sacral
 Superior gluteal

> External jugular vein: tributaries PAST:
 Posterior external jugular vein
 Anterior jugular vein
 Suprascapular vein
 Transverse cervical vein

> Internal jugular vein: tributaries "Medical Schools Let Confident People In":
 · From inferior to superior:
 Middle thyroid
 Superior thyroid
 Lingual
 Common facial
 Pharyngeal
 Inferior petrosal sinus

 > Heart valves: order in circuit "First learn a Tricycle, then learn a Bicycle":
 Flow through Tricuspid first, then Bicuspid.

> Cardiac valves: order in circuit "TRI berore you BI":
 Tricuspid valve is located in left heart and Bicuspid valve is located in right heart. Blood flows through the tricuspid before bicuspid.

> Subclavian artery branches "Very Tired Individuals Sip Strong Coffee Served Daily":
 Vertebral artery
 Thyrocervical trunk
 ---Inferior thyroid
 ---Superficial cervical
 ---Suprascapular
 Costocervical
 ---Superior intercostal
 ---Deep cervical

> Femoral artery deep branches "Put My Leg Down Please":
 Profundus femoris (deep femoral artery)
 Medial circumflex femoral artery
 Lateral circumflex femoral artery
 Descending genicular arteries
 Perforating arteries

 > Heart valve sequence "Try Pulling My Aorta":
 Tricuspid
 Pulmonary
 Mitral
 Aorta

 > Coelic trunk: branches Left Hand Side (LHS):
 Left gastric artery
 Hepatic artery
 Splenic artery

> External carotid artery branches "Suzy Always Lays Flat On Pillows Making Sex Terrific":
 Superior thyroid
 Ascending pharyngeal
 Lingual
 Facial
 Occipital
 Posterior auricular
 Maxillary
 Superificial Temporal

> Brachial artery is medial to biceps tendon "BAMBI":
 Brachial Artery is Medial to Biceps In elbow.

> Brachial artery: recurrent and collateral branches "I Am Pretty Sexy"
 Inferior ulnar collateral artery goes with Anterior ulnar recurrent artery.
 Posterior ulnar recurrent artery goes with Superior ulnar collateral artery.
 · Alternatively: "I Am Pretty Smart"

> External carotid artery branches "She Lay Flaccid As Olaf's Penis Slipped In":
 · From caudal to cephalad:
 Superior thyroid
 Lingual
 Facial
 Ascending pharyngeal
 Occipital
 Posterior auricular
 Superficial temporal
 (Internal) maxillary
 

> External carotid artery branches "Sally Ate Lots Of Fresh Produce March Through September":
 Superior thyroid
 Ascending laryngeal
 Lingual
 Occipital (O before F is an extremely common variation)
 Facial
 Posterior auricular
 Maxillary
 Transverse facial
 Superficial temporal

> External carotid artery branches StApLE OPIS:
 Superior thyroid
 Ascending pharyngeal
 Lingual
 External maxillary (facial)
 Occipital
 Posterior auricular
 Internal maxillary
 Superficial temporal

> External carotid artery branches "Some Angry Lady Figured Out PMS":
 Superior thyroid
 Ascending pharyngeal
 Lingual
 Facial
 Occipital
 Posterior auricular
 Maxillary
 Superificial temporal

> External carotid artery branches "Sister Lucy's Powdered Face Often Attracts Silly Medicos":
 · Before entering the parotid gland:
 Superior thyroid
 Lingual
 Posterior auricular
 Facial
 Occipital
 Ascending pharyngeal
 · Ends as:
 Superficial temporal and
 Maxillary bifurcating in the in the parotid gland

> External carotid artery branches "So Long For Acting Old Parenting Means Stability":
 Superior thyroid
 Lingual
 Facial
 Ascending pharyngeal
 Occiptal
 Posterior auricular
 Maxillary
 Superficial temporal

> Atrioventricular valves "LAB RAT":
 Left Atrium: Bicuspid
 Right Atrium: Tricuspid

> Axillary artery branches "Screw The Lawyer Save A Patient":
 Superior thoracic
 Thoracoacromiol
 Lateral thoracic
 Subscapular
 Anterior circumflex humeral
 Posterior circumflex humeral
 Alternatively: "Some Times Life Seems A Pain".

> Axillary artery branches "Suzy Thompkins Loves Sex, Alcohol, and Pot":
 · From proximal to distal:
 Superior thoracic
 Thoracacromial
 Lateral thoracic
 Subscapular
 Anterior circumflex humeral
 Posterior circumflex humeral

> Axillary artery branches "Send The Lord to Say A Prayer":
 · From proximal to distal:
 Superior thoracic
 Thoracacromial
 Lateral thoracic
 Subscapular
 Anterior circumflex humeral
 Posterior circumflex humeral

> Femoral triangle: contents NAVY:
 · In order from lateral to medial:
 Nerve
 Artery
 Vein
 Y of the groin
 · Alternatively: Y = Y-fronts [male underwear].

> Femoral triangle: arrangement of contents NAVEL:
 · From lateral hip towards medial navel:
 Nerve (directly behind sheath)
 Artery (within sheath)
 Vein (within sheath)
 Empty space (between vein and lymph)
 Lymphatics (with deep inguinal node)
 · Nerve/Artery/Vein are all called Femoral.

 
   > Femoral triangle: arrangement of nerve, artery, vein VAN:
 · From medial to lateral:
 Vein
 Artery
 Nerve
 · Nerve/Artery/Vein are all called Femoral.

> Cavernous sinus contents O TOM CAT:
 O TOM are lateral wall components, in order from superior to inferior.
 CA are the components within the sinus, from medial to lateral. CA ends at the level of T from O TOM.
 · See diagram.
 Occulomotor nerve (III)
 Trochlear nerve (IV)
 Ophthalmic nerve (V1)
 Maxillary nerve (V2)
 Carotid artery
 Abducent nerve (VI)
 T: When written, connects to the T of OTOM.

> Inferior vena cava tributaries "I Like To Rise So High":
 Illiacs
 Lumbar
 Testicular
 Renal
 Suprarenal
 Hepatic vein.
 · Think of the IVC wanting to rise high up to the heart.

> Maxillary artery branches "DAM I AM Piss Drunk But Stupid Drunk I Prefer, Must Phone Alcoholics Anonymous":
 Deep auricular
 Anterior tympanic
 Middle meningeal
 Inferior alveolar
 Accessory meningeal
 Masseteric
 Pterygoid
 Deep temporal
 Buccal
 Sphenopalatine
 Descending palatine
 Infraorbital
 Posterior superior alveolar
 Middle superior alveolar
 Pharyngeal
 Anterior superior alveolar
 Artery of the pterygoid canal

> Carotid sheath contents "I See 10 CC's in the IV":
 I See (I.C.) = Internal Carotid artery
 10 = CN 10 (Vagus nerve)
 CC = Common Carotid artery
 IV = Internal Jugular Vein

> Portal-systemic anastomoses: main 2 places that retroperitoneals connect into systemic

RetroPeritoneals hook up with Renal and Paravertebral veins.

> Descending abdominal aorta: seven divisions "Sometimes Intestines Get Really Stretched Causing Leakage":
 Suprarenals [paired]
 Inferior mesenteric
 Gonadal [paired]
 Renals [paired]
 Superior mesenteric
 Celiac
 Lumbar [paired]

 > Thoracic cage: relations to the important venous structures Behind the sternoclavicular joints: the brachiocephalic veins begin.
 Behind the 1st costal cartilage on the right the superior vena cava begins.
 Behind the 2nd costal cartilage on the right the azygos vein ends.
 Behind the 3rd costal cartilage on the right the superior vena cava ends.

> Saphenous veins: path of great vs. small at malleolus "MAGdelaine has varicose veins" [The saphenous veins are important for varicose veins]:
 Medial maleolus, Anterior to maleolus, and Great saphenous go together.
 Then the opposites of these go together: Small saphenous is posterior to the lateral maleolus.

> Liver: side with ligamentum venosum/ caudate lobe vs. side with quadrate lobe/ ligamentum teres "VC goes with VC":
 The Venosum and Caudate is on same side as Vena Cava [posterior]. Therefore, quadrate and teres must be on anterior by default.

> Female pelvic organs' blood supply "3 organs, each get 2 blood supplies":
 Uterus: uterine, vaginal.
 Rectum: middle rectal, inferior rectal [inferior rectal is the end of pudendal].
 Bladder: superior vesical, inferior vesical.

 > Superior thyroid artery branches "May I Softly Squeeze Charlie's Girl?":
 Muscular
 Infrahyoid
 Superior laryngeal
 Sternomastoid
 Cricothyroid
 Glandular

> Ulnar nerve to ulnar artery and radial nerve to radial artery relations Think "peripheral nerves":
 The ulnar nerve is "ulnar" to the ulnar artery.
 Radial nerve is "radial" to the radial artery.

 > Lung lobe numbers: right vs. left Tricuspid heart valve and tri-lobed lung both on the right side.
 Bicuspid and bi-lobed lung both on the left side.

 > Aortic arch: major branch order "Know your ABC'S":
 Aortic arch gives rise to:
 Brachiocephalic trunk
 left Common Carotid
 left Subclavian
 · Beware though trick question of 'What is first branch of aorta?' Technically, it's the coronary arteries.

> Vascular endothelium: simplified cross-section LIMA:
Lumen
Intima
Media
Adventitia

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