Marginal branch of right coronary artery

The right marginal artery is a branch of the right coronary artery. It runs along the acute margin of the heart, the lower border of its front surface. (StatPearls, Heart Arteries)

Latin ramus marginalis dexter arteriae coronariae dextrae (Wikipedia, Right marginal branch of right coronary artery, CC BY-SA 4.0) · FMA3818 · Cardiovascular system

Front view of the heart model with the wall faded and the marginal branch of the right coronary artery highlighted, running along the lower border of the front of the heart. — The right marginal artery, highlighted in the heart model seen from the front with the wall faded. Render: ScienceQuest, CC BY 4.0. Meshes: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0

The marginal branch of the right coronary artery on its own, seen from the front. — The right marginal artery alone, from the front. Render: ScienceQuest, CC BY 4.0. Meshes: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0

Open it in the Heart Explorer See it alone in 3D

Where is the right marginal artery?

It leaves the right coronary artery as that artery runs along the coronary sulcus, below the right atrium. (StatPearls, Heart Arteries; OpenStax A&P 2e, 19.1)

What does the right marginal artery supply?

It supplies the right ventricle, the superficial parts of its wall. (OpenStax A&P 2e, 19.1; StatPearls, Heart Arteries)

What runs with the right marginal artery?

The small cardiac vein runs beside it on the front of the heart. That vein collects blood from the back of the right chambers and empties into the coronary sinus. (StatPearls, Heart Veins)

The right marginal vein lies on the lowest margin of the front of the heart, the same border the artery follows. It drains the front and diaphragmatic walls of the right ventricle and joins the small cardiac vein in the coronary sulcus. (StatPearls, Heart Veins and Heart Arteries)

Is there only one right marginal artery?

The right coronary artery gives off the right marginal artery as it runs along the coronary sulcus. (OpenStax A&P 2e, 19.1; StatPearls, Heart Arteries; Gray 1918, 2. The Aorta)

Right marginal artery: origin, course and supply
Feature	Detail and source
Branch of	Right coronary artery (StatPearls, Heart Arteries)
Runs along	The acute margin, the anteroinferior border of the heart (StatPearls, Heart Arteries)
Supplies	The right ventricle, on both its surfaces (OpenStax A&P 2e, 19.1; Gray 1918, 2. The Aorta; StatPearls, Heart Arteries)

Touches in this model

Measured on the BodyParts3D meshes: surfaces within 2 mm of the marginal branch of right coronary artery, nearest first, 12 of 14.

Anterior papillary muscle of right ventricle in contact
Middle cardiac vein in contact
Set of anterior cardiac veins in contact
Trunk of right coronary artery in contact
Wall of heart in contact
Left lobe of thymus in contact
Middle lobe of lung in contact
Right lobe of thymus in contact
Upper lobe of left lung in contact
Posterior interventricular branch of right coronary artery 0.2 mm away
Diaphragm 0.3 mm away
Posterior papillary muscle of right ventricle 0.7 mm away

Sources

StatPearls, Anatomy, Thorax, Heart Arteries. Raheel Chaudhry; Sajedur Rahman; Mark A. Law. Last update July 24, 2023. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.
OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e, section 19.1, Heart Anatomy. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.
StatPearls, Anatomy, Thorax, Heart Veins. Julia H. Miao; Amgad N. Makaryus. Last update July 24, 2023. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.
Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body, 20th US edition (1918), VI. The Arteries, 2. The Aorta (1918 terms: longitudinal sulcus for interventricular sulcus, anterior aortic sinuses for the coronary sinuses of the aorta). Henry Gray. Public domain. Read 2026-10-25.