Table 1.

Summary of the basic assumptions underlying the reconstruction of the coronary venous tree

Subject	Description of the Assumption
Heart geometry
1.1	Represented by a prolate spheroid (57)
Network partitioning
2.1	Hierarchical design (9, 31, 35, 58, 68)
2.2	Epicardial subnetworks: orders −12 to −9 (9, 31, 35, 68)
2.3	Transmural subnetworks: orders −8 to −5 (35)
2.4	Perfusion subnetworks: capillaries of orders −4 to 0v (31, 35)
Network design
3.1	The network has a tree-like structure (37)
3.2	Veins accompany their arterial counterparts (18, 27, 33)
3.3	Ratios of 1.61:1 and 1.86:1 are maintained, on average, between the venous (0v) and arterial (0a) capillaries for the venous LAD, LCx, and RCA, respectively (7, 37)
3.4	Venules and venous capillaries can run obliquely between parallel sheets (4, 49)
3.5	Arterial major branches are drained only by their venous counterparts, i.e., there is no communication between major branches, neither arterial nor venous
3.6	No arcading or anastomoses in the venous network
Network morphometry
4.1	No correlation between successive segment lengths and diameters
Three-dimensional reconstruction scheme
5.1	Relation between diameter asymmetry (34) and branching angles: the higher the diameter asymmetry, the larger the asymmetry in the branching angle (9, 17, 18, 29, 68)
5.2	Functional capillaries are oriented along the direction of the myocytes (9, 17, 18, 29, 49, 68)
5.3	Perfusion and transmural venous vessels can cross each other and arterial vessels as well (4, 30, 45)

LAD, left anterior descending coronary artery; LCx, left circumflex artery; RCA, right coronary artery.