Cardiac muscle the walls of a house contain electrical wires and plumbing, cardiac muscle also contains specialised cells for conducting electrical signals rapidly (the cardiac conduction system), and blood vessels to bring nutrients to the muscle cells and take away waste products (the coronary arteries, veins and capillary network). Cardiac muscle cells or cardiomyocytes are the contracting cells which allow the heart to pump. Each cardiomyocyte needs to contract in coordination with its neighbouring cells to efficiently pump blood from the heart, and if this coordination breaks down then – despite individual cells contracting – the heart may not pump at all,
Arcuate vessels of uterus Arcuate vessels of uterus The arcuate vessels of the uterus are a component of the blood supply of the uterus. They are arteries and veins that branch from the uterine arteries and veins, respectively, with additional anastomoses from the ovarian arteries and veins, and penetrate and assume a circumferential course in the myometrium. They have also been called helicine branches of the uterus (or helicine arterioles), as they are spiral-shaped, but they should not be confused with the spiral arteries that penetrate the endometrium in the inner uterus. The radial arteries branch off from the arcuate artery through the myometrium.