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anatomy of the heart

Heart Anatomy
The heart is a muscular pump that contains four chambers: right atrium, left atrium, right
ventricle and leftventricle. The two small atria make up the top of the heart, and the two large
ventricles make up thebottom of the heart. The right atrium pumps blood to the right ventricle,
and the left atrium pumps blood tothe left ventricle. A wall, called the septum, separates the
right atrium and right ventricle, from the leftatrium and left ventricle.Blood flows through the
heart in the following manner:

The right atrium receives oxygen-poor blood from

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thebody,and then pumps the blood throughthe tricuspid valve and into the right ventricle.
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The right ventricle pumps the blood through the pulmonic valve and to the lungs, where it pic
ksup more oxygen.
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The left atrium receives the oxygen-rich blood from
the lungs, and then pumps the blood throughthe mitral valve and into the left ventricle.
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The left ventricle pumps blood through the aortic valve and to the rest of the body.
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The blood supplies oxygen to the body and the cycle starts again

The Right Side of the Heart

The right system receives blood from the veins of the whole body. This is "used" blood, which

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is poor in oxygen and rich in carbon dioxide.
The right atrium is the first chamber that receives blood
The chamber expands as its muscles relax to fill with blood that hasreturned from the body.
The blood enters a second muscular chamber called the rightventricle.
The right ventricle is one of the heart's two major pumps. Its functionis to pump the blood into
the lungs.
The lungs restore oxygen to the blood and exchange it with carbondioxide, which isexhaled.

The Left Side of the Heart

The left system receives blood from the lungs. This blood is nowoxygen rich.
The oxygen-rich blood returns through veins comingfrom the lungs(pulmonary veins) to the
heart.
It is received from the lungs in the left atrium, the first chamber on theleft side. It moves to the
left ventricle, a powerful muscular chamber that pumps the blood back out to the body.

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•
The left ventricle is the strongest of the heart's pumps. Its thickermuscles need to perform
contractions powerful enough to force theblood to all parts of thebody
This strong contraction produces systolic blood pressure (the first andhigher number in blood
pressure measurement). The lower number(diastolic blood pressure) is measured when
the left ventricle relaxesto refill with blood between beats.
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Blood leaves the heart through the ascending aorta, the major arterythat feeds blood to the
entire body
Right Atrium
Receives blood from 3 sources
:
superior vena cava
,
inferior vena cava
,&
coronary sinusI n t e r a t r i a l s e p t u m F o s s a o v a l i s
: remnant of fetal
foramen ovaleTricuspid valve
-blood flows through into right ventricle
-3 cusps of dense CT-
“RAT on the Right” (Right
Atrioventricular, Tricuspid)

Right Ventricle
Forms most of ant. surface of heart
I n t e r v e n t r i c u l a r s e p t u m Tr a b e c u l a e c a r n e a e Papillary
musclesC h o r d a e t e n d i n e a e P u l m o n a r y s e m i l u n a r v a l v e
-allows blood into
pulmonary trunk

eft Atrium
Forms most of
base
of heartReceives blood from lungs through 4
pulmonary veins
-2 right & 2 left
Bicuspid valve
: blood flows through into left ventricle- 2 c u s p s -
“LAMB on the Left”: Left
Atrioventricular, Mitral, or Bicuspid
Left Ventricle
Forms
apex
of heart
Chordaetendineae
,
papillary muscles
,&
trabeculaecarneaeA o r t i c s e m i l u n a r v a l v e
-allows blood into
ascending aorta
-openings to the
coronary arteries
directly above valve
Myocardial Thickness & Function
Thickness varies based on each chamber’s function:
-
Atria
walls are thin;
Ventricle
walls are thick-
Right ventricle
walls are thin;
Left ventricle
walls arethick

The Valves
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Valves are muscular flaps that open and close so blood will flow in theright direction. There
are four valves in the heart:
•
The tricuspid regulates blood flow between the right atrium and theright ventricle.
•
The pulmonary valve opens to allow blood to flow from the rightventricle to the lungs.
•
The mitral valve regulates blood flow between the left atrium and theleft ventricle.
•
The aortic valve allows blood to flow from the left ventricle to theascending aorta