Q. Can you define Regulation of Coronary Blood flow?
During diastole when the aortic valve (AV) is closed, aortic diastolic pressure is transmitted through the dilated sinuses of Valsalva to the coronary ostia. The epicardial arteries serve as conductance vessels and offer little resistance to coronary flow. These vessels give rise to smaller penetrating vessels approximately at right angles which are called " resistance vessels". Blood flow in the coronary bed depends on the driving pressure and the resistance offered by this bed coronary vascular resistance is regulated by several factors.