Abstract

This review focuses on sympathetic perivascular innervation of human saphenous vein. It shows the distribution of the nerves in the vein wall, including an association of the nerves with the vasa vasorum system. An account of a possible contribution of sympathetic nerves to the physiology of the saphenous vein, as well as their relevance to the outcome of coronary artery bypass surgery that uses the vein as a graft, is discussed.

Keywords: Human saphenous vein, harvesting, sympathetic innervation