"The artery may arise directly off the right coronary cusp, and this variant appears to have a significant genetic component. The variant is present in ~50% of Americans, but 38% of Britons, 27% of Pakistanis, and only 10% of the Japanese population."
"Although an acute occlusion of the tiny artery has been shown to result in S-T elevation, another more important role it serves in pathophysiology is that of a route of collateral circulation. The conus artery has been shown to collateralise with the more distal acute marginal branch in RCA stenosis/obstruction, and collateralise with the left anterior descending artery (LAD) in LAD stenosis/obstruction, providing a potentially vital collateral pathway."