Aortic sinus

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Synonyms and keywords: Petit’s sinus; sinus of Mehta; sinus of Morgagni; sinus of Otto; sinus of Valsalva; Valsalva sinus

The aortic sinus is a section of the ascending aorta that is normally dilated (enlarged or widened) just above the aortic valve.

There are generally three aortic sinuses, the left, the right and the posterior.

• The left aortic sinus gives rise to the left coronary artery.
• The right aortic sinus gives rise to the right coronary artery.
• Usually, no vessels arise from the posterior aortic sinus, which is therefore known as the non-coronary sinus.

Shown below is a drawing depicting the aortic sinus anatomy. Note that the aortic sinus has three cusps: the left coronary cusp, the right coronary cusp and the non coronary cusp.

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