The human heart is a four- chambered muscular organ, shaped and sized roughly like a man’* closed fist with two- thirds of the mass to the left of midline.
Chambers of the Heart
The internal cavity of the heart is divided into four chambers:
- Right atrium
- Right ventricle
- Left atrium
- Left ventricle
The two atria are thin- walled chambers that receive blood from the veins. The two ventricles are thick- walled chambers that forcefully pump blood out of the heart.
The right atrium receives deoxygenated blood from systemic veins; the left atrium receives oxygenated blood from the pulmonary veins.
Valves of the Heart
Pumps need a set of valves to keep the fluid flowing in one direction and the heart is no exception. The heart has two types of valves that keep the blood flowing in the correct direction. The valves between the atria and ventricles are called atrioventricular valves (also called cuspid valves), while those at the bases of the large vessels leaving the ventricles are called semilunar valves. When the ventricles contract, atrioventricular valves close to prevent blood from flowing back into the atria. When the ventricles relax, semilunar valves close to prevent blood from flowing back into the ventricles.
