Need-to-know Anatomy

The structure of the heart is analogous to a two-story house with four rooms or chambers. On the main floor are the two largest rooms, the left and right ventricles. The ventricles are the main pumping chambers of the heart. In a healthy heart, the left ventricle is the stronger pumping chamber. The wall between these two rooms is called the ventricular septum. Upstairs, there are two smaller rooms, the left and right atria. The atria function primarily as receiving chambers for blood, but they also help out slightly with pumping. The wall between the two atria is called the atrial septum.

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The valves of the heart function like one-way doors that help control the direction of blood flow; this keeps the heart working efficiently. The four valves in the heart are the tricuspid, mitral, pulmonary, and aortic valves. Proper functioning of the mitral valve, which connects the left atrium to the left ventricle, can be important for people suffering from heart failure associated with dilated cardiomyopathy. The mitral valve keeps the blood flowing into the left ventricle, where it is pumped out of the heart and circulated throughout the body.

The pulmonary and the aortic arteries are the main pathways for blood in and around the heart. The pulmonary artery shunts blood from the right ventricle to the lungs. The pulmonary veins channel blood from the lungs back to the heart into the left ventricle. The aorta channels blood from the heart to the body. The coronary arteries, which branch off the aorta, distribute blood to the heart itself.

This section contains more information on:

• Blood flow in the heart
• Ejection fraction and cardiomyopathy