Here is an anterior view of the heart. We will look at superficial anatomy.
Hello, today we are going to talk briefly about the anatomy of the heart. Before continuing, let us simply remember that:
The superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava bring deoxygenated blood to the right side of the heart, to the right atrium and then to the right ventricle.
The right ventricle will pump this deoxygenated blood to the pulmonary trunk, then into the left pulmonary artery and then into the right pulmonary artery.
The left and right pulmonary arteries will carry this blood to the lungs, then the blood from the lungs will return to the heart on the left side of the heart through the left pulmonary vein and the right pulmonary vein.
The left atrium will receive the oxygenated blood, which will then be conveyed to the left ventricle, and then from the left ventricle through the aorta.
The upper part of the aorta, known here as the aortic arch, is where the blood can then rise toward the upper body or descend toward the lower body, through the descending aorta behind the heart.
There is a ligament that connects the aortic arch with the pulmonary trunk; it is the ligamentum arteriosum, which is a remnant of the ductus arteriosus.
The apex of the heart can also be seen here.
The superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava bring deoxygenated blood back to the right side of the heart, to the right atrium, and then to the right ventricle.
The right ventricle will then pump the blood into the pulmonary trunk, and then from the pulmonary trunk it will branch to the left and to the right via the pulmonary arteries.
The blood will go into the lungs and will then return to the left side of the heart.
On the left, via the right and left pulmonary veins, the blood enters the left atrium.
From the left atrium, the blood moves toward the left ventricle, which will then pump this oxygenated blood into the aorta.
The aortic arch can be seen here, which can then pump the blood toward the upper body or toward the lower body via the descending aorta.
So now, here is a cross-section of the anterior view. Let us look at what happens inside.
Right away, you can see that there are four chambers in the heart, and these are the atria and the ventricles.
To recap once again, you can see the superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava, which carry the blood from the right side of the heart to the right atrium.
From the right atrium, the blood flows into the right ventricle through a valve called the tricuspid valve.
The blood in the right ventricle will go into the pulmonary trunk through another valve called the pulmonary valve.
From the pulmonary trunk, the blood will go to the lungs. From the lungs, the blood will return to the left side of the heart through the pulmonary veins, into the left atrium.
From the left atrium, the blood will flow into the left ventricle through the mitral valve of the left ventricle.
The left ventricle pumps this blood into the aorta via the aortic valve, then the blood flows toward the upper or lower body via the descending aorta.
The apex of the heart can be seen once again.
Now that we know the flow of blood in the heart, let us examine it in more detail:
These are respectively called:
So here, you will find:
So, once the tissues around your body use oxygenated blood, it will therefore return deoxygenated to the right side of the heart.
The blood from the upper body will return to the heart through the superior vena cava, and the blood from the lower body will return to the right side of the heart through the inferior vena cava.
The deoxygenated blood will enter the right atrium and then go to the right ventricle.
The deoxygenated blood will be pumped through the pulmonary trunk and toward the lungs through the right and left pulmonary arteries.
This deoxygenated blood will undergo gas exchange in the lungs (shown in orange). What happens here is that carbon dioxide will be released and the lungs will reoxygenate the blood with oxygen.
The carbon dioxide is eliminated and the lungs will reoxygenate the blood, and the oxygenated blood will then return in red to the left side of the heart, to the left atrium.
Afterward, the blood will pass from the left atrium to the left ventricle, then from the left ventricle the blood is pumped toward the aorta.
The upper part of the aorta will carry the oxygenated blood toward the upper body and the lower part of the aorta will carry the oxygenated blood toward the lower body.
Again, this oxygen will be delivered to the tissues and, again, gas exchange will occur (shown in orange).
The oxygen is unloaded onto the body tissues and then, as a by-product, carbon dioxide is released into the blood.
The deoxygenated blood returns once again to the right side of the heart.
Oxygen is still unloaded into the tissues and, as the by-product (carbon dioxide) is released.
The deoxygenated blood is sent back to the right side of the heart.
This cycle continues endlessly.
This diagram represents both the pulmonary circulation and the systemic circulation.
Let us look at something clinical by looking at a chest X-ray. Let us look at what each part of the X-ray represents.
Here is a normal chest X-ray.
There are important angles to remember when you look at a chest X-ray. These are:
These areas are important because their attenuation will represent a pleural effusion.
Other important landmarks to remember are:
The tracheal shadow is really important because the deviation of the triple shadow to the left or to the right can mean what is called: “a tension pneumothorax”.
This diagram therefore represents a normal chest X-ray.
It is important to remember some of these areas because you can compare them to an abnormal chest X-ray.
Graphic credit: Armando Hasudungan
Alexandre Grenier - Founder and Owner
- Blue represents deoxygenated blood;
- Red represents oxygenated blood.
- The flow of blood from the heart to the body tissues;
- The flow of blood from the heart to the lungs.
- The systemic circulation;
- The pulmonary circulation.
- The heart;
- The lower part of your body;
- The upper body;
- The right lung;
- The left lung.
- The right lung;
- The left lung;
- The superior vena cava;
- The inferior vena cava;
- The inferior vena cava;
- The right atrium;
- The right ventricle;
- The pulmonary trunk;
- The left atrium;
- The left ventricle;
- The aorta.
- The right cardiophrenic angles;
- The left cardiophrenic angles;
- The right costophrenic angles;
- The left costophrenic angles.
- The right clavicle;
- The left clavicle;
- The tracheal shadow.