A Morphometric Study on the Septomarginal Trabeculae in South Indian Cadavers

Most of the human hearts presents a specialized bridge known as Septomarginal trabecula which extends from the right side of the ventricular septum to the base of anterior papillary muscle. For the present study we took 30 human hearts. We studied the thickness of the septomarginal trabecula, the height of its attachment to the ventricular wall by considering the supraventricular crest as the landmark, length of septomarginal trabecula and type of attachment to the septal wall. We found that in most of the cases, the septomarginal trabecula originated about upper or middle third of the ventricular wall. The thickness varied from less than 1mm to more than 5mm. We also found variation in the way of attachment of the septomarginal trabecula to the ventricular wall. Some of the septomarginal trabecula branched before attaching to the base of the anterior papillary muscle. We decided to study this because of its role in the haemodynamics and conduction of electric impulses in heart.