[26/2 20:04] Sebastian Ganna:

The right atrium receives blood into the heart. In diagrams like the one below, this is the one on the top
left of the image. This blood is deoxygenated as it has supplied it’s oxygen to where it is needed by our
tissues and organs. It enters the right atrium of the heart via two large veins, the superior and inferior
vena cava.

From the right atrium, the blood travels down into the right ventricle through the tricuspid valve. Valves
in the heart prevent blood from flowing backwards.

From the right ventricle, the blood is pumped upwards to the lungs through the pulmonary arteries,
passing through the pulmonary valve.

In the lungs, our blood picks up oxygen, which we call oxygenated blood. The contraction of the right
ventricle is not strong enough to send the oxygenated blood all around the body after the lungs, so the
oxygenated blood needs to return to the heart for another pump.

Entering the heart through the pulmonary veins, oxygenated blood comes into the left atrium.
Continuing down through the mitral valve, it passes to the left ventricle.

From the diagram above, you can see that the muscle of the left ventricle (pictured in pink) is thicker
than that of the right ventricle. This is because of the additional force needed to pump blood around the
whole body rather than just the lungs.

From the left ventricle, blood passes through the aortic valve, and exits the heart via the aorta. The aorta
is a very important blood vessel, accommodating high pressure blood from the heart. The aorta has
elastic properties, allowing it to expand as higher pressure blood passes through, then contract passively.

From the aorta, the blood travels through smaller arteries and capillaries to reach all parts of our body.
Returning through veins, the now deoxygenated blood returns to the vena cava, and the journey begins
again.

Parts Of The Human Body

The parts of the human heartcan be broken down into four chambers, muscular walls, vessels, and a
conductive system. The two upper chambers are called the atria, with lower parts called ventricles.
These all work together to make up the vital function of your heart.
Everybody knows that the human heart is the essential organ in our bodies. But few people know all its
parts and their essential functions.

Broadly speaking, the human heart has one function: to pump blood through the circulatory system all
throughout the body, thus supplying both nutrients and oxygen to the body’s tissues while also removing
all the wastes, including carbon

The Anatomy of the Human Heart

Here are some important facts about the anatomy of the human heart:

The human heart can weight between 200 to 425 grams (or 7 and 15 ounces). On average it beats about
100,000 times a day and pumps 7,571 liters (2,000 gallons) of blood.

The medical literature tells us that the most effective ways to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer,
stroke, diabetes, Alzheirmer’s, and many more problems are through healthy diet and exercise. Our
bodies have evolved to move, yet we now use the energy in oil instead of muscles to do our work –
David Suzuki

Most people are not aware of the exact location of the heart. It is between the lungs, approximately in
the middle of the chest, right behind the sternum (breastbone) but slightly to the left.The human heart
beats (contracts) each time it received an electrical impulse from the heart muscle, known as the
myocardium.The human heart together with the circulatory system make up the cardiovascular system.
The blood that your heart pumps gets to every single cell in your body and delivers nutrients and oxygen
to each of them while also removing all the waste products including carbon dioxide.

What Are the Parts of the Human Heart?

Here is the full list of all the parts of the human heart and their essential functions:

The Aorta: this is the largest artery in the human body. Arteries are tubular branching elastic-walled
muscle vessels that carry blood all the way from the heart through the body. The main function of the
aorta is to take oxygenated blood all the way from the left ventricle to the rest of the body.

The Pulmonary Artery: this artery is responsible for carrying deoxygenated blood all the way from the
right ventricle to the lungs.

Oxygenated blood: the word “oxygenated” simply means that it carries oxygen. So, oxygenated blood is
the blood that carries oxygen.

Deoxygenated blood: the word “deoxygenated” simply means that it carries very little or no oxygen. So,
deoxygenated blood is the blood that carries either very little or no oxygen.
The Right Atrium: this part of the human body is tasked with receiving deoxygenated blood from the rest
of the body.

The Pulmonary Vein: Veins are the tubular branching vessels that carry blood all the way from the
capillaries and take it to the heard. The function of the pulmonary vein is to take oxygenated blood all
the way from the lungs to the left atrium.

The Left Ventricle: A ventricle is any of the cavities of a bodily part or organ. This ventricle, in particular,
is the chamber of the heart that gets blood from a corresponding atrium. The left verticle is from where
the blood is forced into the different arteries. The essential function that the left ventricle carries out is
pumping oxygenated blood into the aorta.

The Right Ventricle: the right ventricle is tasked with pumping deoxygenated blood into the pulmonary
artery.

The Coronary Vessels: these vessels supply the myocardium (the heart muscle) with the necessary
supply of blood. There is a main left coronary that goes into the circumflex artery, supplying blood to the
left atrium. There is a right coronary vessel that goes into the right marginal artery, supplying blood to
the right atrium and the right ventricle.

The Arteries: the arteries are tasked with carrying blood away from the heart. These blood vessels are
muscular tubes. The aorta is the largest artery. Each and every artery is lined with three layers of sooth
tissue. The three layers are the intima, which is the inner layer whose tissue is called endothelium; then,
there the media, which is a muscle layer whose role is to allow the human heart to deal with high
pressures; finally, there is the adventitia, which connects the arteries to tissue.

The Veins: the veins are tasked with carrying blood toward the heart.

The Bicuspid Valve: Valves are bodily structures (such as the mitral valve) that either shut down
temporarily an orifice or passage or that permits fluid to move, but always in only one direction. The
Bicuspid Valve is the valve located between the left ventricle and the left atrium. Some people are born
with this kind of aortic valve that is located between the aorta and the left ventricle and has two cusps
instead of the usual three. People who are born with a bicuspid valve instead of a tricuspid valve may be
affected by it, particularly, once they become adults. This valve often causes what is known as an aortic
valve stenosis, which is the narrowing of the aortic valve. People with a bicuspid valve sometimes suffer
from an enlarged aorta and this can increase the risk of having an aortic dissection.

The Tricuspid Valve: this is the vale that is located between the right ventricle and the right atrium. Most
people are born with a tricuspid valve, which is the valve with three cusps located between the aorta
and the left ventricle.

The Vena Cava: this is the largest vein in the human body (vena is Latin for vein). Its essential function is
to carry blood from all around the body all the way to the heart. There is a superior vena cava and an
inferior vena cava. The superior vena cava is tasked with carrying blood to the upper body: neck, head,
and both upper limbs back to the heart. What the inferior vena cava does is carrying blood back from the
lower parts of the body back to the heart.

The Pericardium

The pericardium is the fibrous sac that surrounds the heart. It can be divided into three layers,
the fibrous pericardium, the parietal pericardium, and the visceral pericardium. The parietal and visceral
pericardia together form the serous pericardium. The two layers of the serous pericardium are
continuous with each other.

The fibrous pericardium is a layer of connective tissue that provides support and protection for the
heart. It has a number of attachments to the diaphragm, the sternum (via the sterno-pericardial
ligaments), and the vertebral column. It holds the heart in place.

The inner surface of the fibrous pericardium is lined by the outer (parietal) layer of serous pericardium.
The inner (visceral) layer of the serous pericardium lines the outer surface of the heart itself. Between
the two layers of the serous pericardium is the pericardial cavity, which contains pericardial fluid. It is
this fluid that provides lubrication between the two layers, and allows the heart to expand and contract.

The classic picture of the way in which the serous pericardium works is if you push your fist into a
balloon. The layer of rubber covering your hand is analogous with the visceral layer, the inside of the
balloon is analogous to the pericardial cavity, and the outer layer of the balloon not in contact with your
hand is equivalent to the parietal pericardium.

Pericarditis is an inflammation of the serous pericardium of the heart. It results in an accumulation of

fluid in the pericardial cavity, which effects the pattern of beating in the heart.

A massively increased amount of fluid in the pericardial cavity will result in the heart not being able to fill
properly, meaning it will be unable to propel blood around the body in its normal manner. This condition
is called cardiac tamponade, and will often require the fibrous pericardium to be surgically opened in
order to remove the excess fluid.

The heart wall is divided into three layers: epicardium, myocardium, and endocardium.

Epicardium— outer protective layer of the heart.Myocardium—muscular middle layer wall of the
heart.Endocardium—inner layer of the heart.

Epicardium
Epicardium (epi-cardium) is the outer layer of the heart wall. It is also known as visceral pericardium as it
forms the inner layer of the pericardium. The epicardium is composed primarily of loose connective
tissue, including elastic fibers and adipose tissue. The epicardium functions to protect the inner heart
layers and also assists in the production of pericardial fluid. This fluid fills the pericardial cavity and helps
to reduce friction between pericardial membranes. Also found in this heart layer are the coronary blood
vessels, which supply the heart wall with blood. The inner layer of the epicardium is in direct contact
with the myocardium.

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Myocardium

This is a colored scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of healthy heart (cardiac) muscle fibrils (blue). The
muscle fibrils, or myofibrils, are crossed by transverse tubules (running vertically). These tubules mark
the division of the myofibrils into contractile units known as sarcomeres. Cardiac muscle is under
subconscious control and continuously contracts to pumps blood around the body without tiring. Steve
Gschmeissner/Science Photo Library/Getty Images

Myocardium (myo-cardium) is the middle layer of the heart wall. It is composed of cardiac muscle fibers,
which enable heart contractions. The myocardium is the thickest layer of the heart wall, with its
thickness varying in different parts of the heart. The myocardium of the left ventricle is the thickest as
this ventricle is responsible for generating the power needed to pump oxygenated blood from the heart
to the rest of the body. Cardiac muscle contractions are under the control of the peripheral nervous
system, which directs involuntary functions including heart rate.

Cardiac conduction is made possible by specialized myocardial muscle fibers. These fiber
bundles,consisting of the atrioventricular bundle and Purkinje fibers, carry electrical impulses down the
center of the heart to the ventricles. These impulses trigger the muscle fibers in the ventricles to
contract.

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Endocardium

This is a false-color scanning electron micrograph (SEM) showing an aggregation of red blood cells on
the endocardium, the lining of the heart. P. MOTTA/University 'LA SAPIENZA', Rome/Getty Images

Endocardium (endo-cardium) is the thin inner layer of the heart wall. This layer lines the inner heart
chambers, covers heart valves and is continuous with the endothelium of large blood vessels. The
endocardium of heart atria consists of smooth muscle, as well as elastic fibers. An infection of the
endocardium can lead to a condition known as endocarditis. Endocarditis is typically the result of an
infection of the heart valves or endocardium by certain bacteria, fungi, or other microbes. Endocarditis is
a serious condition that can be fatal