Atrioventricular nodal branch

The atrioventricular nodal branch is a cardiac artery that is crucial because it feeds the atrioventricular node, necessary for the excitation and contraction of the ventricles. Most frequently (in over 80% of humans) it arises as a distal branch from the right coronary artery near the crux of the heart. In some people, the atrioventricular node instead receives blood from the circumflex branch of the left coronary artery, otherwise known as the left circumflex coronary artery or LCX. Very rarely, in approximately 2% of people, the vascular supply to the atrioventricular node arises from both the right coronary artery and the left circumflex branch.