How does blood flow through the heart. What are the main parts of the heart. Why is the circulatory system essential for life. How long is the human circulatory system. Where is the heart located in the body. What are the four chambers of the heart. How do heart valves function.

The Incredible Human Heart: A Powerful Organ

The human heart is a remarkable organ that plays a crucial role in sustaining life. This fist-sized powerhouse beats approximately 100,000 times per day, pumping an impressive 5-6 quarts of blood each minute. Over the course of a day, this translates to roughly 2,000 gallons of blood circulated throughout the body.

The heart’s primary function is to pump oxygen and nutrient-rich blood throughout the body, ensuring that all tissues receive the necessary elements for survival. But how exactly does this complex system work?

The Circulatory System: A Network of Blood Vessels

As the heart beats, it propels blood through an intricate network of blood vessels known as the circulatory system. These vessels are elastic, muscular tubes that transport blood to every corner of the body. The circulatory system is composed of three main types of blood vessels:

• Arteries: These vessels carry oxygen-rich blood away from the heart to all body tissues. They branch out into smaller vessels as they move further from the heart and into organs.
• Capillaries: These tiny, thin blood vessels connect arteries and veins. Their thin walls allow for the exchange of oxygen, nutrients, carbon dioxide, and other waste products between the blood and body cells.
• Veins: These vessels return blood to the heart. This blood contains less oxygen and is rich in waste products that need to be eliminated from the body. Veins increase in size as they approach the heart.

Did you know that the human circulatory system is over 60,000 miles long? This vast network of blood vessels is long enough to circle the globe more than twice!

The Heart’s Location and External Appearance

The heart is situated under the rib cage, slightly to the left of the breastbone (sternum), and between the lungs. From the outside, it appears to be composed entirely of muscle. These strong muscular walls contract rhythmically, pumping blood into the arteries.

Several major blood vessels connect to the heart, including:

• The aorta
• The superior vena cava
• The inferior vena cava
• The pulmonary artery
• The pulmonary veins
• The coronary arteries

Inside the Heart: Four Chambers and Four Valves

Internally, the heart is a four-chambered, hollow organ divided into left and right sides by a muscular wall called the septum. Each side is further divided into two chambers:

1. Atria: The two upper chambers that receive blood from the veins
2. Ventricles: The two lower chambers that pump blood into the arteries

These chambers work in unison, contracting and relaxing to pump blood out of the heart in a coordinated, rhythmic fashion. As blood exits each chamber, it passes through a valve. The heart contains four valves:

• Mitral valve
• Tricuspid valve
• Aortic valve
• Pulmonic valve (also called the pulmonary valve)

The tricuspid and mitral valves are located between the atria and ventricles, while the aortic and pulmonic valves lie between the ventricles and the major blood vessels leaving the heart.

How Do Heart Valves Function?

Heart valves operate similarly to one-way valves in plumbing systems, preventing blood from flowing in the wrong direction. Each valve consists of flaps called leaflets or cusps. The mitral valve has two leaflets, while the others have three. These leaflets are attached to and supported by a ring of tough, fibrous tissue called the annulus, which helps maintain the proper shape of the valve.

In the case of the mitral and tricuspid valves, the leaflets are also supported by tough, fibrous strings called chordae tendineae. These strings, resembling the support structure of a parachute, extend from the valve leaflets to small muscles called papillary muscles, which are part of the inner walls of the ventricles.

The Journey of Blood Through the Heart

The right and left sides of the heart work in tandem to ensure proper blood flow. This process repeats continuously, allowing blood to flow constantly to the heart, lungs, and body. Let’s explore this journey in detail:

Right Side of the Heart

1. Blood enters the heart through two large veins: the inferior and superior vena cava. These veins empty oxygen-poor blood from the body into the right atrium.

2. As the atrium contracts, blood flows from the right atrium into the right ventricle through the open tricuspid valve.

3. When the ventricle is full, the tricuspid valve closes. This prevents blood from flowing backward into the atrium when the ventricle contracts.

4. When the ventricle contracts, blood is pumped through the pulmonic valve into the pulmonary artery and on to the lungs, where it picks up oxygen.

Left Side of the Heart

5. Oxygen-rich blood flows from the lungs back to the heart through the pulmonary veins, entering the left atrium.

6. As the atrium contracts, blood flows from the left atrium into the left ventricle through the open mitral valve.

7. When the ventricle is full, the mitral valve closes, preventing blood from flowing backward into the atrium when the ventricle contracts.

8. When the ventricle contracts, blood is pumped through the aortic valve into the aorta, the main artery of the body. From here, the oxygen-rich blood is distributed to all parts of the body.

The Importance of the Circulatory System

The circulatory system plays a vital role in maintaining life and promoting the health of all body tissues. Its functions include:

• Delivering fresh oxygen from the lungs to body tissues
• Transporting nutrients to cells throughout the body
• Removing waste products, including carbon dioxide, from tissues
• Regulating body temperature
• Helping to maintain fluid balance
• Transporting hormones and other signaling molecules

Without this intricate system, our bodies would be unable to function properly, highlighting the critical importance of maintaining cardiovascular health.

Maintaining a Healthy Heart: Tips and Strategies

Given the heart’s crucial role in our overall health and well-being, it’s essential to take steps to keep it functioning optimally. Here are some strategies for maintaining a healthy heart:

• Regular exercise: Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity per week.
• Balanced diet: Consume a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Limit intake of saturated fats, trans fats, and excessive sodium.
• Maintain a healthy weight: Being overweight or obese can put extra strain on your heart.
• Manage stress: Chronic stress can contribute to heart disease. Practice stress-reduction techniques such as meditation, yoga, or deep breathing exercises.
• Avoid smoking and limit alcohol consumption: Both smoking and excessive alcohol intake can damage your heart and blood vessels.
• Regular check-ups: Schedule regular visits with your healthcare provider to monitor your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and overall heart health.

By implementing these strategies, you can help ensure that your heart continues to function efficiently, pumping life-sustaining blood throughout your body for years to come.

Understanding Heart Diseases and Prevention

While the heart is remarkably resilient, it can be susceptible to various diseases and conditions. Some common heart-related issues include:

• Coronary artery disease
• Heart valve disorders
• Arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats)
• Heart failure
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)

Understanding these conditions and their risk factors can help in prevention and early detection. Some key preventive measures include:

1. Regular cardiovascular screenings
2. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle
3. Managing existing health conditions like diabetes or high cholesterol
4. Being aware of family history of heart disease
5. Recognizing early warning signs of heart problems

By staying informed and proactive about heart health, we can work towards reducing the incidence of heart disease and promoting overall cardiovascular well-being.

The Future of Cardiac Care: Innovations and Advancements

The field of cardiology is constantly evolving, with new technologies and treatments emerging to improve cardiac care. Some exciting developments include:

• Minimally invasive surgical techniques
• Advanced imaging technologies for more accurate diagnoses
• Personalized medicine approaches based on genetic profiles
• Artificial intelligence applications in predicting and managing heart disease
• Stem cell therapies for heart repair and regeneration

These advancements offer hope for improved outcomes in heart disease treatment and prevention, potentially revolutionizing cardiac care in the coming years.

As our understanding of the heart and circulatory system continues to grow, so too does our ability to maintain and improve cardiovascular health. By combining traditional knowledge with cutting-edge research and technology, we can look forward to a future where heart disease is less prevalent and more manageable, allowing people to lead longer, healthier lives.

How Blood Flows, Parts of the Heart, and More

Learn How the Heart Works

Your heart is an amazing organ. It continuously pumps oxygen and nutrient-rich blood throughout your body to sustain life. This fist-sized powerhouse beats (expands and contracts) 100,000 times per day, pumping five or six quarts of blood each minute, or about 2,000 gallons per day.

How Does Blood Travel Through the Heart?

As the heart beats, it pumps blood through a system of blood vessels, called the circulatory system. The vessels are elastic, muscular tubes that carry blood to every part of the body.

Blood is essential. In addition to carrying fresh oxygen from the lungs and nutrients to your body’s tissues, it also takes the body’s waste products, including carbon dioxide, away from the tissues. This is necessary to sustain life and promote the health of all the body’s tissues.

There are three main types of blood vessels:

• Arteries. Arteries carry oxygen-rich blood away from the heart to all of the body’s tissues. They branch several times, becoming smaller and smaller as they carry blood further from the heart and into organs.
• Capillaries. These are small, thin blood vessels that connect the arteries and the veins. Their thin walls allow oxygen, nutrients, carbon dioxide, and other waste products to pass to and from cells.
• Veins. These are blood vessels that take blood back to the heart; this blood contains less oxygen and is rich in waste products that are to be excreted or removed from the body. Veins become larger as they get closer to the heart. The superior vena cava is the large vein that brings blood from the head and arms to the heart, and the inferior vena cava brings blood from the abdomen and legs into the heart.

This vast system of blood vessels — arteries, veins, and capillaries — is over 60,000 miles long. That’s long enough to go around the world more than twice!

Blood flows continuously through your body’s blood vessels. Your heart is the pump that makes it all possible.

Where Is Your Heart and What Does It Look Like?

The heart is located under the rib cage, under and to the left of your breastbone (sternum), and between your lungs.

Looking at the outside of the heart, you can see that the heart is made of muscle. The strong muscular walls contract (squeeze), pumping blood to the arteries. The major blood vessels that are connected to the heart include the aorta, the superior vena cava, the inferior vena cava, the pulmonary artery (which takes oxygen-poor blood from the heart to the lungs, where it is oxygenated), the pulmonary veins (which bring oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the heart) and the coronary arteries (which supply blood to the heart muscle).

On the inside, the heart is a four-chambered, hollow organ. It is divided into the left and right side by a muscular wall called the septum. The right and left sides of the heart are further divided into two top chambers called the atria, which receive blood from the veins, and two bottom chambers called ventricles, which pump blood into the arteries.

The atria and ventricles work together, contracting and relaxing to pump blood out of the heart in a coordinated and rhythmic fashion. As blood leaves each chamber of the heart, it passes through a valve. There are four heart valves within the heart:

• Mitral valve
• Tricuspid valve
• Aortic valve
• Pulmonic valve (also called pulmonary valve)

The tricuspid and mitral valves lie between the atria and ventricles. The aortic and pulmonic valves lie between the ventricles and the major blood vessels leaving the heart.

The heart valves work the same way as one-way valves in the plumbing of your home. They prevent blood from flowing in the wrong direction.

Each valve has a set of flaps, called leaflets or cusps. The mitral valve has two leaflets; the others have three. The leaflets are attached to and supported by a ring of tough, fibrous tissue called the annulus. The annulus helps to maintain the proper shape of the valve.

The leaflets of the mitral and tricuspid valves are also supported by tough, fibrous strings called chordae tendineae. These are similar to the strings supporting a parachute. They extend from the valve leaflets to small muscles, called papillary muscles, which are part of the inside walls of the ventricles.

How Does Blood Flow Through the Heart?

The right and left sides of the heart work together. The pattern described below is repeated over and over, causing blood to flow continuously to the heart, lungs, and body.

Right side of the heart

• Blood enters the heart through two large veins, the inferior and superior vena cava, emptying oxygen-poor blood from the body into the right atrium.
• As the atrium contracts, blood flows from your right atrium into your right ventricle through the open tricuspid valve.
• When the ventricle is full, the tricuspid valve shuts. This prevents blood from flowing backward into the right atrium while the ventricle contracts.
• As the ventricle contracts, blood leaves the heart through the pulmonic valve, into the pulmonary artery and to the lungs, where it is oxygenated. The oxygenated blood then returns to the heart through the pulmonary veins.

Left side of the heart

• The pulmonary veins empty oxygen-rich blood from the lungs into the left atrium.
• As the atrium contracts, blood flows from your left atrium into your left ventricle through the open mitral valve.
• When the ventricle is full, the mitral valve shuts. This prevents blood from flowing backward into the atrium while the ventricle contracts.
• As the ventricle contracts, blood leaves the heart through the aortic valve, into the aorta and to the body.

How Does Blood Flow Through Your Lungs?

Once blood travels through the pulmonic valve, it enters your lungs. This is called the pulmonary circulation. From your pulmonic valve, blood travels to the pulmonary arteries and eventually to tiny capillary vessels in the lungs.

Here, oxygen travels from the tiny air sacs in the lungs, through the walls of the capillaries, into the blood. At the same time, carbon dioxide, a waste product of metabolism, passes from the blood into the air sacs. Carbon dioxide leaves the body when you exhale. Once the blood is oxygenated, it travels back to the left atrium through the pulmonary veins.

What Are the Coronary Arteries?

Like all organs, your heart is made of tissue that requires a supply of oxygen and nutrients. Although its chambers are full of blood, the heart receives no nourishment from this blood. The heart receives its own supply of blood from a network of arteries, called the coronary arteries.

Two major coronary arteries branch off from the aorta near the point where the aorta and the left ventricle meet:

• Right coronary artery supplies the right atrium and right ventricle with blood. It branches into the posterior descending artery, which supplies the bottom portion of the left ventricle and back of the septum with blood.
• Left main coronary artery branches into the circumflex artery and the left anterior descending artery. The circumflex artery supplies blood to the left atrium, as well as the side and back of the left ventricle. The left anterior descending artery supplies the front and bottom of the left ventricle and the front of the septum with blood.

These arteries and their branches supply all parts of the heart muscle with blood.

When the coronary arteries narrow to the point that blood flow to the heart muscle is limited (coronary artery disease), a network of tiny blood vessels in the heart that aren’t usually open (called collateral vessels) may enlarge and become active. This allows blood to flow around the blocked artery to the heart muscle, protecting the heart tissue from injury.

How Does the Heart Beat?

The atria and ventricles work together, alternately contracting and relaxing to pump blood through your heart. This is your heartbeat. The electrical system of your heart is the power source that makes this possible.

Your heartbeat is triggered by electrical impulses that travel down a special pathway through your heart.

• The impulse starts in a small bundle of specialized cells called the SA node (sinoatrial node), located in the right atrium. This node is known as the heart’s natural pacemaker. The electrical activity spreads through the walls of the atria and causes them to contract.
• A cluster of cells in the center of the heart between the atria and ventricles, the AV node (atrioventricular node) is like a gate that slows the electrical signal before it enters the ventricles. This delay gives the atria time to contract before the ventricles do.
• The His-Purkinje network is a pathway of fibers that sends the electrical impulse from the AV node to the muscular walls of the ventricles, causing them to contract.

At rest, a normal heart beats around 50 to 90 times a minute. Exercise, emotions, anemia, an overactive thyroid, fever, and some medications can cause your heart to beat faster, sometimes to well over 100 beats per minute.

How the heart works – HonorHealth

Your heart is a strong, muscular organ situated slightly to the left of your chest. It pumps blood to all parts of the body through a network of blood vessels by continuously expanding and contracting. On average, your heart will beat 100,000 times and pump about 2,000 gallons of blood each day.

The heart is divided into a right and left side, separated by a septum. Each side has an atrium (which receives blood as it enters) and a ventricle (from which blood is pumped out). The heart has a total of four chambers: right atrium, right ventricle, left atrium and left ventricle.

The right side of the heart collects oxygen-depleted blood and pumps it to the lungs, through the pulmonary arteries, so that the lungs can refresh the blood with a fresh supply of oxygen.

The left side of the heart receives oxygen-rich blood from the lungs, then pumps blood out to the rest of the body’s tissues, through the aorta.

Valves maintain direction of blood flow

As the heart pumps blood, a series of valves open and close tightly. These valves ensure that blood flows in only one direction, preventing backflow.

• The tricuspid valve is situated between the right atrium and right ventricle.
• The pulmonary valve is between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery.
• The mitral valve is between the left atrium and left ventricle.
• The aortic valve is between the left ventricle and the aorta.

Each heart valve, except for the mitral valve, has three flaps (leaflets) that open and close like gates on a fence. The mitral valve has two valve leaflets.

The circulatory system

While the heart and lungs are the largest organs of the circulatory system, the blood vessels are the longest. This extended network of stretchy tubes circulates blood throughout the body. Laid end-to-end, your body’s blood vessels would extend about 60,000 miles. That’s more than 21 road trips between New York and Los Angeles!

Arteries (along with smaller arterioles and microscopic capillaries) convey oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood to the body’s tissues. In turn, veins bring nutrient-depleted blood back to the heart. Along the way, blood is routed through the kidneys and liver, as well, filtering waste products from the blood.

Electrical impulses keep the beat

The heart’s four chambers pump in an organized manner with the help of electrical impulses that originate in the sinoatrial node (also called the “SA node”). Situated on the wall of the right atrium, this small cluster of specialized cells is the heart’s natural pacemaker, initiating electrical impulses at a normal rate.

The impulse spreads through the walls of the right and left atria, causing them to contract, forcing blood into the ventricles. The impulse then reaches the atrioventricular (AV) node, which acts as an electrical bridge for impulses to travel from the atria to the ventricles. From there, a pathway of fibers (the HIS-Purkinje network) carries the impulse into the ventricles, which contract and force blood out of the heart.

Heart anatomy: By the numbers

1. Superior vena cava: Receives blood from the upper body; delivers blood into the right atrium.

2. Inferior vena cava: Receives blood from the lower extremities, pelvis and abdomen, and delivers blood into the right atrium.

3. Right atrium: Receives blood returning to the heart from the superior and inferior vena cava; transmits blood to the right ventricle, which pumps blood to the lungs for oxygenation.

4. Tricuspid valve: Allows blood to pass from the right atrium to the right ventricle; prevents blood from flowing back into the right atrium as the heart pumps (systole).

5. Right ventricle: Receives blood from the right atrium; pumps blood into the pulmonary artery.

6. Pulmonary valve: Allows blood to pass into the pulmonary arteries; prevents blood from flowing back into the right ventricle.

7. Pulmonary arteries: Carry oxygen-depleted blood from the heart to the lungs.

8. Pulmonary veins: Deliver oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the left atrium of the heart.

9. Left atrium: Receives blood returning to the heart from the pulmonary veins.

10. Mitral valve: Allows blood to flow into the left ventricle; prevents blood from flowing back into the left atrium.

11. Left ventricle: Receives oxygen-rich blood from the left atrium and pumps blood into the aorta.

12. Aortic valve: Allows blood to pass from the left ventricle to the aorta; prevents backflow of blood into the left ventricle.

13. Aorta: Distributes blood throughout the body from the heart.

Heart Blood Flow & How It Works

The right and left sides of the heart work together

Right Side

Blood enters the heart through two large veins, the inferior and superior vena cava, emptying oxygen-poor blood from the body into the right atrium.

Left Side

The pulmonary vein empties oxygen-rich blood, from the lungs into the left atrium.

Atrial contraction

Right Side

Blood flows from your right atrium into your right ventricle through the open tricuspid valve. When the ventricles are full, the tricuspid valve shuts. This prevents blood from flowing backward into the atria while the ventricles contract (squeeze).

Left Side

Blood flows from your left atrium into your left ventricle through the open mitral valve. When the ventricles are full, the mitral valve shuts. This prevents blood from flowing backward into the atria while the ventricles contract (squeeze).

Ventricular contraction

Oxygen and carbon dioxide travels to and from tiny air sacs in the lungs, through the walls of the capillaries, into the blood.

Right Side

Blood leaves the heart through the pulmonic valve, into the pulmonary artery and to the lungs.

Left Side

Blood leaves the heart through the aortic valve, into the aorta and to the body. This pattern is repeated, causing blood to flow continuously to the heart, lungs and body.

How does blood flow through your lungs?

Once blood travels through the pulmonic valve, it enters your lungs. This is called the pulmonary circulation. From your pulmonic valve, blood travels to the pulmonary artery to tiny capillary vessels in the lungs. Here, oxygen travels from the tiny air sacs in the lungs, through the walls of the capillaries, into the blood. At the same time, carbon dioxide, a waste product of metabolism, passes from the blood into the air sacs. Carbon dioxide leaves the body when you exhale. Once the blood is purified and oxygenated, it travels back to the left atrium through the pulmonary veins.

How your heart works | NHS inform

Your heart is roughly the size of a fist and sits in the middle of your chest, slightly to the left. It’s the muscle at the centre of your circulation system, pumping blood around your body as your heart beats. This blood sends oxygen and nutrients to all parts of your body, and carries away unwanted carbon dioxide and waste products.

Structure of your heart

Your heart is made up of three layers of tissue:

• epicardium
• myocardium
• endocardium

These layers are surrounded by the pericardium, a thin outer lining protecting your heart.

There are four chambers that make up the heart – two on the left side and two on the right.

The two small upper chambers are the atria. The two larger lower chambers are the ventricles. These left and right sides of the heart are separated by a wall of muscle called the septum.

Circulatory system

Your heart pumps blood around the body all the time – about five litres (eight pints) of it – and this is called circulation. Your heart, blood and blood vessels together make up your cardiovascular system (or heart and circulatory system).

The right side of the heart receives blood that is low in oxygen because most has been used up by the brain and body. It pumps this to your lungs, where it picks up a fresh supply of oxygen. The blood then returns to the left side of the heart, ready to be pumped back out to the brain and the rest of your body.

Blood vessels

Your blood is pumped around your body through a network of blood vessels:

• arteries – they carry oxygen-rich blood from your heart to all parts of your body, getting smaller as they get further away from the heart
• capillaries – they connect the smallest arteries to the smallest veins, and help exchange water, oxygen, carbon dioxide and other nutrients and waste substances between the blood and the tissues around them
• veins – they carry blood, lacking in oxygen, back towards your heart, and get bigger as they get nearer your heart

Blood vessels are able to widen or narrow depending on how much blood each part of your body requires. This action is partly controlled by hormones.

Valves

Your heart has four valves. They act like gates, keeping the blood moving in the right direction:

• aortic valve – on the left side
• mitral valve – on the left side
• pulmonary valve – on the right side
• tricuspid valve – on the right side

Electrical system 

For your heart to keep pumping regularly, it needs electrical signals which are sent to the heart muscle telling it when to contract and relax.

The electrical signal starts in the right atrium where your heart’s natural pacemaker – the sino–atrial node – is situated. This signal crosses the atria, making them contract. Blood is pumped through the valves into the ventricles.

Where the atria meet the ventricles, there is an area of special cells – called the atrio-ventricular node – which pass the electrical signals throughout your heart muscle by a system of electrical pathways, known as the conducting system.

The muscles of the ventricles then contract, and blood is pumped through the pulmonary and aortic valves into the main arteries.

The heart’s natural ‘pacemaker’ – the sino-atrial node – produces another electrical signal, and the cycle starts again.

Blood pressure

This is the measurement of the pressure within the arteries. It plays a vital role in the way your heart delivers fresh blood to all your blood vessels. For blood to travel throughout your body quickly enough, it has to be under pressure. This is created by the relationship between three things:

• your heart’s pumping action
• the size and stretchiness of your blood vessels
• the thickness of the blood itself

One heartbeat is a single cycle in which your heart contracts and relaxes to pump blood. At rest, the normal heart beats approximately 60 to 100 times every minute, and it increases when you exercise.

To ensure an adequate blood supply around your body, the four chambers of your heart have to pump regularly and in the right sequence.

There are two phases to your heart’s pumping cycle:

• systole – this is when your heart contracts, pushing blood out of the chambers
• diastole – this is the period between contractions when the muscle of your heart (myocardium) relaxes and the chambers fill with blood

Read more from Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland on how the heart works.

What can go wrong?

Structure

Some people are born with a heart that has not developed properly in the womb before birth – this is called congenital heart disease.

Sometimes you can inherit a heart condition from your family.

Cardiovascular system

Problems with your heart and circulation system include:

• heart attack
• angina
• stroke

Heart disease can happen when your coronary arteries become narrowed by a gradual build-up of fatty material – called atheroma.

If your coronary arteries are narrowed or blocked, the blood supply to your heart will be impaired. This is the most common form of heart disease, known as coronary heart disease (sometimes called coronary artery disease or ischaemic heart disease).

Eventually, your arteries may become so narrow they can’t deliver enough blood to your heart. This can cause angina – a pain or discomfort in your chest, arm, neck, stomach or jaw.

If the fatty material breaks off or ruptures, a blood clot will form, which can cause heart attack (or stroke, if the artery affected is carrying blood to your brain).

Electrical system

Normally your heart will beat between 60 to 100 times per minute. This regular rhythmic beating is dependent upon electrical signals being conducted throughout your heart.

If the electrical signals within your heart are interrupted, your heart can beat too quickly (tachycardia), too slowly (bradycardia) and/or in an irregular way. This is called an arrhythmia – see Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland.

Conditions affecting the pumping of your heart

There are some conditions which can damage your heart muscle, making it weak and unable to pump as efficiently as before:

• heart attack 
• high blood pressure (hypertension)
• heart valve problems – see Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland
• cardiomyopathy – this is a general term for diseases of the heart muscle. Sometimes these diseases are inherited from your family. Sometimes they are caused by other things, like viral infections.

There are also conditions – like high blood pressure (hypertension) – which mean your heart has to work harder.

When your heart muscle can’t meet your body’s demands for blood and oxygen, you can develop various symptoms, like breathlessness, extreme tiredness and ankle swelling. This is called heart failure because of the failure of your heart to pump blood around the body and work efficiently.

Valves

Your heart can’t function normally if the heart valves aren’t working properly, as it can affect the flow of blood through the heart.

There are two main ways that the valves can be affected:

• valves can leak – this is called valve regurgitation or valve incompetence
• valves can narrow and stiffen – this is called valve stenosis

Further information

Try the British Heart Foundation’s Know your heart, an interactive tool narrated and presented by Dr Hilary Jones.

How the Heart Works – Heart Foundation

The human heart pumps blood to every part of your body. Learn about the different parts of the heart and watch our video about how a healthy heart works.

Your heart is the pump which powers your body. It supplies blood carrying oxygen and nutrients to every cell, nerve, muscle and vital organ in your body.

It sits in your chest between your lungs, slightly to the left of centre, and is protected by your rib cage.

Your heart is about the size of your clenched fist and weighs about 300 grams (that’s just over half a packet of butter).

Watch our step-by-step video of how the heart works

What are the parts of the heart?

Your heart is a bit like a house. It has:

Heart walls

The walls of your heart are made of powerful muscle tissue, which squeezes and relaxes to pump blood around your body. This muscle tissue is divided into three layers.

• The endocardium (the inside layer).
• The myocardium (the muscular middle layer).
• The epicardium (the protective outer layer).

Heart chambers (rooms)

Your heart is made up of four chambers, two on the right and two on the left. These are like the rooms of your house.

The top two chambers are called the left and right atrium and the bottom two are called the left and right ventricles.

They are divided by a thin wall called the septum.

Heart valves (the doors between the rooms)

There are four heart valves, which act like doors between the chambers of the heart. They open and close as your heart pumps.

The valves only open one way. This stops blood flowing in the wrong direction between the chambers of your heart.

The two valves that sit between the upper and lower chambers of the heart are called the atrioventricular, or AV valves.

The tricuspid valve is the door between the right atrium and ventricle.

The mitral valve is the door between the left atrium and ventricle.

The other two valves are the doors out of the ventricles. They are called semilunar, or SL valves.

The aortic valve is the door out of the left ventricle into the aorta.

The pulmonary valve is the door out of the right ventrical into the pulmonary artery.

The blood vessels (the plumbing)

Blood travels between the heart and the lungs and the rest of the body, via a network of pipes called the blood vessels. There are three main types of blood vessels.

• Arteries, which carry oxygenated blood from your heart to the rest of your body.
• Veins, which carry the de-oxygenated blood back to your heart and lungs.
• Capillaries, the small vessels where oxygenated and de-oxygenated blood is exchanged.

How the heart pumps

Your conduction system sends the electrical signals which trigger the heart to pump blood around the body, and to and from the lungs.

Blood which has used all its oxygen is returned to the right side of the heart, via large veins called the inferior and superior vena cava. From there it is pumped to the lungs, via the pulmonary artery.

Once the blood has received oxygen from the lungs, it travels through the pulmonary veins into the left side of the heart. From here it is pumped back out around the body, via the aorta.

The heart’s conduction system (the electrics)

Your heart has its own electrical wiring system (conduction system), which keeps it beating. This conduction system includes:

• the sinoatrial (SA) node (or sinus node). This is your body’s own internal pacemaker, that produces electrical signals to make your heart beat
• the atrioventricular (AV) node. This is a node that passes on the electrical signals from the upper chambers of the heart (artia) to the lower ones (ventricles)
• the bundle of His, the left and right bundle branches, and the Purkinje fibres. These act like electrical wiring that communicate the signals around the heart.

The SA node sends an electrical signal that makes the upper chambers of the heart (atria) contract (squeeze). This pushes blood out of the atria and into the lower chambers of the heart (ventricles).

The electrical signal passes from the atria to the AV node. From there, it passes through the bundle of His and into the right and left bundle branches.

Finally, the signal travels down the Purkinje fibres, causing the ventricles to contract. This pushes blood out of your heart to your lungs and the rest of your body.

How the heart pumps

Your conduction system sends the electrical signals which trigger the heart to pump blood around the body, and to and from the lungs.

Blood which has used all its oxygen is returned to the right side of the heart, via large veins called the inferior and superior vena cava. From there it is pumped to the lungs, via the pulmonary artery.

Once the blood has received oxygen from the lungs, it travels through the pulmonary veins into the left side of the heart. From here it is pumped back out around the body, via the aorta.

The coronary arteries

The heart has its own network of blood vessels, which supply it with the blood it needs to keep pumping.

These vessels are called the coronary arteries. They branch off the body’s largest artery, the aorta, and lie on the outside of your heart.

Narrowing in one of the coronary arteries can lead to angina and a blockage can cause a heart attack.

Learn about heart conditions

What is your pulse?

The pulse you can feel, for example in your wrist or neck, is the heart pumping blood. You can measure the rate and rhythm of your heart by taking your pulse.

How to take your pulse

How the Heart Works – The Community Cardiology Service

The Septum

The right and left sides of the heart are divided by an internal wall of tissue called the septum. The area of the septum that divides the two upper chambers (atria) of the heart is called the atrial or interatrial septum. The area of the septum that divides the two lower chambers (ventricles) of the heart is called the ventricular or interventricular septum.

Heart Chambers

The picture shows the inside of the heart and how it is divided into four chambers.

The two upper chambers of the heart are called atria. The atria receive and collect blood. The two lower chambers of the heart are called ventricles. The ventricles pump blood out of the heart into the circulatory system to other parts of the body.

Heart Valves

The picture shows the heart’s four valves. Shown anti-clockwise in the picture, the valves include the aortic valve, the tricuspid valve, the pulmonary valve, and the mitral valve.

Blood Flow

The arrows in the drawing show the direction that blood flows through the heart. The light blue arrows show that blood enters the right atrium of the heart from the superior and inferior vena cavae.

From the right atrium, blood is pumped into the right ventricle. From the right ventricle, blood is pumped to the lungs through the pulmonary arteries.

The light red arrows show the oxygen-rich blood coming in from the lungs through the pulmonary veins into the heart’s left atrium. From the left atrium, the blood is pumped into the left ventricle, where it’s pumped to the rest of the body through the aorta.

For the heart to function properly, the blood flows in only one direction. The heart’s valves make this possible. Both of the heart’s ventricles has an “in” (inlet) valve from the atria and an “out” (outlet) valve leading to the arteries.

Healthy valves open and close in very exact coordination with the pumping action of the heart’s atria and ventricles. Each valve has a set of flaps called leaflets or cusps, which seal or open the valves. This allows pumped blood to pass through the chambers and into the arteries without backing up or flowing backward.

Heart Contraction and Blood Flow

Almost everyone has heard the real or recorded sound of a heartbeat. When the heart beats, it makes a “lub-DUB” sound. Between the time you hear “lub” and “DUB,” blood is pumped through the heart and circulatory system.

A heartbeat may seem like a simple event repeated over and over. A heartbeat actually is a complicated series of very precise and coordinated events that take place inside and around the heart.

Each side of the heart uses an inlet valve to help move blood between the atrium and ventricle.

The tricuspid valve does this between the right atrium and ventricle. The mitral valve does this between the left atrium and ventricle. The “lub” is the sound of the mitral and tricuspid valves closing.

Each of the heart’s ventricles has an outlet valve. The right ventricle uses the pulmonary valve to help move blood into the pulmonary arteries. The left ventricle uses the aortic valve to do the same for the aorta. The “DUB” is the sound of the aortic and pulmonary valves closing.

Each heartbeat has two basic parts: diastole (or relaxation) and atrial and ventricular systole (or contraction). During diastole, the atria and ventricles of the heart relax and begin to fill with blood.

At the end of diastole, the heart’s atria contract (an event called atrial systole) and pump blood into the ventricles. The atria then begin to relax. Next, the heart’s ventricles contract (an event called ventricular systole) and pump blood out of the heart.

Pumping Action

The heart uses the four valves to ensure the blood flows only in one direction. Healthy valves open and close in coordination with the pumping action of the heart’s atria and ventricles.

Each valve has a set of flaps called leaflets or cusps. These seal or open the valves. This allows pumped blood to pass through the chambers and into the blood vessels without backing up or flowing backward.

Blood without oxygen from the two vena cavae fill the heart’s right atrium. The atrium contracts (atrial systole). The tricuspid valve located between the right atrium and ventricle opens for a short time and then shuts. This allows blood to enter into the right ventricle without flowing back into the right atrium.

When the heart’s right ventricle fills with blood, it contracts (ventricular systole). The pulmonary valve located between the right ventricle and pulmonary artery opens and closes quickly.

This allows blood to enter into the pulmonary artery without flowing back into the right ventricle. This is important because the right ventricle begins to refill with more blood through the tricuspid valve. Blood travels through the pulmonary arteries to the lungs to pick up oxygen.

Oxygen-rich blood returns from the lungs to the heart’s left atrium through the pulmonary veins. As the heart’s left atrium fills with blood, it contracts. This event also is called atrial systole.

The mitral valve located between the left atrium and left ventricle opens and closes quickly. This allows blood to pass from the left atrium into the left ventricle without flowing back into the left atrium.

As the left ventricle fills with blood, it contracts. This event also is called ventricular systole. The aortic valve located between the left ventricle and aorta opens and closes quickly. This allows blood to flow into the aorta.

The aorta is the main artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body. The aortic valve closes quickly to prevent blood from flowing back into the left ventricle, which is already filling up with new blood.

Ventricular Dyssynchrony | Cedars-Sinai

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Overview

The heart muscle is responsible for circulating blood throughout the body. The heart has four chambers, two upper (atrium) and two lower (ventricle), with one atrium and one ventricle on both the right and left side of the heart. Blood that is returning from other areas of the body and is no longer oxygen rich, enters through the top right chamber of the heart. That blood is then pumped into the right ventricle and through the pulmonary artery into the lungs to absorb more oxygen. This oxygen-rich blood is then pumped into the top-left chamber of the heart and then into the lower-left chamber before being pumped out into the body through the aorta.

For the heart to pump blood efficiently, all four chambers must work together and pump at the correct time. When the lower chambers of the heart, the ventricles, do not pump at the correct time or are out of sync, the condition is called ventricular dyssynchrony.

There are three main types of ventricular dyssynchrony:

• Atrioventricular dyssynchrony – affecting the contraction between the atrium and ventricle
• Interventricular dyssynchrony – affecting the contraction between the right and left ventricles
• Intraventricular dyssynchrony – affecting the contraction of segments in the left ventricle wall

Symptoms

Ventricular dyssynchrony is associated with a patient experiencing heart failure. There are no physical symptoms that patients with ventricular dyssynchrony experience. However, they may experience symptoms of heart failure, as the two are closely linked.

Symptoms of heart failure may include:

• A dry, hacking cough, especially when lying down
• Confusion, sleepiness and disorientation in older people
• Dizziness, fainting, fatigue or weakness
• Fluid buildup, especially in the legs, ankles and feet
• Increased urination at night
• Nausea, abdominal swelling, tenderness or pain (may result from the buildup of fluid in the body and the backup of blood in the liver)
• Weight gain (due to fluid buildup)
• Weight loss as nausea causes a loss of appetite and as the body fails to absorb food well
• Rapid breathing, bluish skin and feelings of restlessness, anxiety and suffocation
• Shortness of breath and lung congestion as the blood backs up in the lungs
• Tiring easily
• Wheezing and spasms of the airways similar to asthma

Causes and Risk Factors

Ventricular dyssynchrony is caused by erratic electrical impulses that cause the chambers of the heart to pump out of sync. This limits the chambers from filling with blood as they normally would and causes the heart to work inefficiently. The condition is associated with patients who have been diagnosed with heart failure and is often caused by left bundle branch block.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of ventricular dyssynchrony almost always occurs during or after the diagnosis of heart failure. An echocardiogram is a noninvasive procedure that uses ultrasound to create a moving picture of the heart as it works and is the most commonly used diagnostic tool for the condition.

An electrocardiogram (EKG) is another noninvasive procedure and may be used to examine the electrical activity of the heart.

Additional imaging tests such as a cardiac MRI or chest X-ray may be used to see if the heart is enlarged — if the echocardiogram is inconclusive.

Treatment

Treatment of ventricular dyssynchrony will focus on correcting the abnormal heart rhythm through cardiac resynchronization therapy and managing the symptoms of heart failure.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy, also known as biventricular pacing, works to regulate the abnormal heart rhythm by implanting a pacemaker just below the collarbone. The device monitors the heart rate to detect abnormal heart rhythms and emits small pulses of electricity to correct them. This method resynchronizes the heart and improves the output of blood from the heart because it coordinates the pumping of the lower left and right chambers. Less blood leaks through the mitral valve, and the muscles of the lower-left chamber can pump better.

Additional treatment options for patients experiencing heart failure include:

• Medications – In most cases, patients with heart failure have the disease for the rest of their lives and require specific drugs. A combination of drugs may be used, including ACE inhibitors, diuretics, beta-blockers and digoxin. These do not cure heart failure. They can relieve symptoms, improve heart function, slow the progress of the disease and reduce the risk of complications, hospitalization and premature death.
• Surgery – can open blocked blood vessels in the heart and restore normal blood flow. Surgery to correct certain types of heart valve disease may also improve symptoms of heart failure
• Ventricular assist devices – These machines help a failing heart pump blood throughout the body. VADs have been used in patients as young as 7 years old and as old as 70.
• Cardiac Mechanical Assist Device Program – This Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute program provides complete state-of-the-art mechanical support for patients with end-stage heart failure.
• Heart transplant
• Treating related problems – correct or control related health problems (such as high blood pressure or coronary artery disease) and any other heart failure triggers (such as fever, anemia or infection)
• Lifestyle changes – losing weight, starting an exercise program approved by your doctor, reducing the amount of salt and fat in the diet, quitting smoking and avoiding alcohol

Heart failure that develops or gets worse quickly needs to be treated on an emergency basis in a hospital. If there is severe swelling in the lungs, oxygen will be given through a face mask. Diuretics can be injected, and drugs (such as nitroglycerin) can be given to improve comfort. In some cases it may be necessary to use a mechanical ventilator to assist in breathing. Certain hormones similar to adrenaline can be given on a short-term basis to help the heart muscle work more effectively.

The knowledgeable and highly trained staff at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute will work with each patient to determine the best treatment option.

© 2000-2021 The StayWell Company, LLC. All rights reserved. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical care. Always follow your healthcare professional’s instructions.

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Heart and blood vessels

The heart of the circulatory system is the heart, which, like a pump, pumps blood through the arteries, ensuring the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to all organs and tissues.
The heart is located in the chest along the projection of the sternum, slightly to the left, and is a hollow muscular organ the size of a fist. The heart has 4 chambers, separated by septa.Between the left atrium
and the left ventricle, as well as the right atrium and right ventricle, have holes with valves that regulate the direction of blood flow from the atria to the ventricles.
Blood circulation occurs in the large and small circle of blood circulation. Blood is collected from all organs and tissues and flows through the veins into the right atrium. From the right atrium through the corresponding opening, venous blood flows into the right ventricle. Both of these right reservoirs (atrium and ventricle) are also called the right heart (“venous”).
The pulmonary circulation begins in the right ventricle. From the right ventricle, due to the contraction of its muscle wall, dark, oxygen-poor and carbon-dioxide-rich blood is pushed into the pulmonary artery and through it enters the lungs. There it enters the small arteries and capillaries, by diffusion it is purified from carbon dioxide and enriched with oxygen, acquires a bright red color and is already called arterial blood. Through the four pulmonary veins, arterial blood enters the left atrium, and this completes the pulmonary circulation.
Considering that the left cavities of the heart (atrium and ventricle) or the left heart are already filled with arterial blood, the left heart is called “arterial”.
The systemic circulation begins in the left atrium. From the left atrium, arterial blood flows into the left ventricle, which is an even more powerful pump than the right ventricle. By contracting, the left ventricle pushes blood into the aorta and its branches, through which it enters all organs and tissues, down to the smallest capillaries.Having given oxygen to the tissues and taking carbon dioxide from them, the blood again becomes venous. The venous capillaries are gradually interconnected to form larger veins, which, in turn, form two wide ones: the superior and inferior vena cava. The superior vena cava collects blood from the head, neck, upper limbs, and trunk walls, while the inferior vena cava collects blood from the lower extremities, abdominal organs, and pelvic region. Both hollow veins carry blood to the right atrium, where the systemic circulation ends.

Thus, 2 closed circles of blood circulation are obtained, which are connected to each other by the motor of the human body – the heart.
So, the systemic circulation begins in the left ventricle of the heart and ends in the right atrium. Its function is to supply all organs and tissues with nutrients and oxygen.
The small circle of blood circulation starts from the right ventricle and ends in the left atrium.Its function is to enrich the blood with oxygen in the lungs.
The muscle of the heart, constantly performing gigantic work, itself needs nutrition and oxygen. Blood flows to the heart through vessels that extend directly from the aorta and cover the heart like a crown or a crown, which is why they are called coronary or coronary arteries.

The movement of blood through the vessels.

The heart does a great job.So, in one minute, it pumps 4.5–5 liters of blood in only one direction. The movement of blood is provided by valves located between the atria and ventricles, between the left ventricle and the aorta, pulmonary vessels and the right atrium. The speed of blood flow through the vessels depends on their diameter: if the blood moves at a high speed in the aorta, then in the capillaries this speed is minimal.
When the cardiovascular system is damaged by an atherosclerotic, inflammatory or degenerative process, both general and local circulatory disorders can be observed.An example of a common circulatory disorder is heart failure with shortness of breath, palpitations, cough, cyanosis of the skin, and edema. An example of local circulatory disorders, when the blood supply to any organ suffers, is a heart attack (heart, lung or kidney), gangrene of a limb. But since the circulatory system functions as a whole, even local circulatory disorders in any organ over time affect the entire system.
The activity of the heart is regulated by the central nervous system.In addition, the heart also has its own intracardiac regulation mechanisms that promote rhythmic contraction (systole phase) and relaxation (diastole phase) of the heart.
In an adult, the number of heartbeats per minute normally ranges from 60 to 80 beats; in athletes, the heart works more economically. They have a heart rate of 40-50 beats per minute.

The arteries of our body

Before talking about atherosclerosis, let us recall the anatomical features of the arteries.
Arteries are cylindrical elastic tubes of various diameters. The walls of the arteries are much thicker than those of the veins, the vessels that carry blood back to the heart. This difference in the thickness of the vessels is not accidental and is due to the fact that the blood pressure in the arteries is much higher than in the veins.
The wall of the arteries consists of three layers: external, middle and internal. The outer layer or serous membrane is a connective tissue framework; the middle (muscle) layer consists of smooth muscle fibers; the inner layer (intima) is lined with one layer of cells and is called the endothelium.It is the endothelium, or rather its damage or dysfunction, that plays a major role in the development of atherosclerosis. However, we will talk about this later.
The lumen of the arteries can change as a result of contraction or relaxation of the smooth muscle fibers of the middle layer. Expansion of blood vessels (for example, in hot conditions) promotes an increase in blood flow and a more intense metabolism, and vice versa, their narrowing (in low temperatures) slows down these processes in the body. If the vessels for some reason are constantly constricted, then the organs and tissues receive little blood, and hence oxygen.Over time, this leads to disruption of the functioning of those organs and tissues, which are nourished by narrowed arteries.

Vascular changes in atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis (from the Greek words “ather” – gruel and “sclerosis” – hardening), just as the name suggests, is a process of accumulation of soft deposits of lipids (fats, fat-like substances, primarily cholesterol) on the walls of arteries.

It has been established that atherosclerosis develops in response to damage to the endothelium (the inner lining of blood vessels).

The damage or dysfunction of the endothelium can be caused by a variety of reasons, in particular, smoking, a significant increase in blood lipids, high blood pressure, acute or chronic psycho-emotional stress, viral or bacterial infection.
Following damage to the endothelium, fats, fat-like substances, and cholesterol penetrate into the arterial wall. Leukocytes, or rather their special varieties, monocytes and macrophages, also rush here from the blood.This is the beginning of the formation of an atherosclerotic plaque. Formed on the wall of the artery “gruel” is covered with a thin connective tissue capsule, consisting of fibrin threads. Such an atherosclerotic plaque is called young. Over time, as the atherosclerotic process progresses, calcium begins to accumulate in the plaques, fibrous and connective tissue grows. The plaque is covered with a thick capsule (this is a formed plaque), increases in size and significantly narrows the lumen of the artery.Often, several plaques are formed, they merge with each other, further narrowing the lumen of the vessel.
Due to the narrowing of the lumen of the vessel, the organ supplied with blood does not receive the required amount of oxygen and chronic ischemia occurs (from the Greek words “ische” – I detain and “hemo” – blood). So, with the narrowing of one or more coronary arteries, chronic myocardial ischemia (chronic ischemic heart disease) occurs.

Acute ischemia (acute vascular insufficiency) develops differently.The fact is that the body produces special enzymes that “eat away” from the edges of the connective tissue membrane of the atherosclerotic plaque, reaching its soft, mushy nucleus. When the plaque capsule is opened, this mass enters the bloodstream. An open wound on the capsule of the ulcerated plaque is covered with adhered platelets. A blood clot is gradually formed – a thrombus, which bulges into the lumen of the vessel, sharply narrowing it.
A thrombus can break away from the vessel wall and, moving with the blood flow, clog a smaller vessel, while creating an acute local vascular insufficiency and stopping tissue nutrition, which leads to tissue necrosis (necrosis).For example, with blockage of one of the coronary arteries of the heart, myocardial infarction occurs, with thrombosis of the femoral artery or artery of the lower leg – necrosis of the foot (gangrene).
Atherosclerosis can totally affect the aorta and its branches, but more often arteries of various sizes are affected, and not all over, but in separate areas. Atherosclerotic plaques “like” to form in the places of bends and branches of arteries, which are especially abundant in vital organs. So, the most susceptible to atherosclerosis are the coronary arteries of the heart, the vessels of the brain, the abdominal aorta and its branches, which supply blood to the abdominal organs, kidneys, pelvic organs, and lower extremities.
Often, atherosclerosis initially prefers one organ. For example, with damage to the coronary arteries, coronary heart disease develops, with atherosclerosis of the cerebral arteries – ischemic brain disease up to a stroke. With narrowing of the iliac or femoral vessels by atherosclerotic plaques, obliterating atherosclerosis of the vessels of the lower extremities occurs. If the renal vessels are affected by atherosclerosis, then hypertension may develop with a predominant increase in the “lower” blood pressure numbers.Depending on the localization of the affected vessels, clinical manifestations of atherosclerosis of one or another vital organ are formed.
Atherosclerosis in its development is not similar to any disease, since its first signs appear in early childhood. So, at the age of six months, fatty spots and stripes appear on the inner wall of blood vessels in some babies. In the process of growth, a significant part of these spots dissolves and only a few remain. If you do not engage in prevention, then by 35-50 years in men and somewhat later in women, clinical signs of atherosclerosis appear in the form of coronary heart disease, ischemic disease of the brain and other organs.The disease that has arisen requires long-term, and in fact, lifelong treatment. Meanwhile, in medicine, it has long been proven that serious diseases, including atherosclerosis, are better and easier to prevent than to cure for many, many years later. In order to engage in the prevention of atherosclerosis, you need to know everything about the substrate of atherosclerotic plaques – cholesterol and its helpers – lipoproteins.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE LEFT AND RIGHT SIDE OF THE HEART | COMPARE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SIMILAR TERMS – LIFE

The key difference between the left and right sides of the heart is that the left side of the heart is made up of the left atrium and left ventricle, which have oxygen-rich blood, while the right side is

In , the key difference between the left and right sides of the heart is that the left side of the heart is made up of the left atrium and left ventricle, which have oxygen-rich blood, while the right side of the heart is made up of the right atrium and right ventricle, which have blood. with low oxygen content.

Human heart is muscular; An amazing four-chambered organ, consisting of two ventricles and two atria. It is about the size of a fist and is located posterior to the sternum and anterior to the spinal column in the rib cage. In addition, the heart muscles create the heart muscles, and these muscles contract involuntarily. In addition, the heart’s primary function is to pump and circulate blood through the body’s network of blood vessels, which supplies the body’s cells with nutrients and oxygen and removes waste products from them.

Since humans have two heart rate pumps (pulmonary and systemic), the heart can be divided into two parts: the left and right sides, each containing one atrium and one ventricle. The muscular part between these two parts is the atrioventricular septum. However, the left and right sides of the heart work together. Simply put, they hit together.

1. Overview and main differences
2. What is the left side of the heart
3. What is the right side of the heart
4.Similarities between the left and right side of the heart.
5. Side-by-side comparison – left and right sides of the heart in tabular form
6. Summary

What is the left side of the heart?

The left side of the human heart consists of two chambers – the left ventricle and the left atrium. In addition, it has two main heart valves, namely the aortic valve and the bicuspid mitral valve. The left side of the heart receives oxygenated blood (oxygen-rich blood) from the pulmonary veins and helps pump it around the cells and organs of the body.Because the left ventricle pumps oxygenated blood to all parts of the body, it requires a lot of strength.

Therefore, the walls of the left ventricle are thicker than the walls of the right ventricle. The aorta and pulmonary veins connect to the left side of the heart through the left atrium.

When looking at blood flow through the left side of the heart, this happens as follows.

• The pulmonary veins carry oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the left.
• Then the left atrium contracts and blood flows through the mitral valve into the left ventricle.
• Then the mitral valve closes and the left ventricle contracts.
• Finally, blood enters the aortic valve and flows throughout the body.

What is the right side of the heart?

The right side of the human heart consists of two heart chambers; right ventricle and right atrium. It also connects to two heart valves, a tricuspid valve and a pulmonary valve. The right side of the heart receives deoxygenated blood (blood with low oxygen content) from the organs of the body through the superior and inferior vena cava and returns to the lungs through the pulmonary artery.The concentration of CO2 and other waste products is higher in the blood that flows through the right side of the heart, which is why blood is called deoxygenated. In addition, only on this side can you find special types of tissues that help generate a nerve impulse.

If we consider the blood flow through the right side of the heart, it happens as follows.

• The inferior and superior vena cava deliver oxygen-poor blood to the right atrium.
• Then, through the tricuspid valve, the blood enters the right ventricle.
• Once the right ventricle fills with blood, the tricuspid valve closes and the right ventricle contracts.
• Finally, blood enters the pulmonary valve and enters the lungs for oxygenation.

What do the left and right sides of the heart have in common?

• The left and right sides of the heart are the two sides of the heart.
• Both sides are composed of the atrium and the ventricle.
• Blood flows from both sides.
• Both sides contract and relax.
• They contain important heart valves.
• Blood flows in only one direction on both sides.

What is the difference between the left and right side of the heart?

The left and right sides of the heart are the two main parts of the heart. Both sides are made up of the atrium and the ventricle. In addition, they also consist of two main valves. The key difference between the left and right side of the heart is that the left side of the heart circulates oxygen-rich blood, while the right side of the heart circulates low-oxygen blood.Another difference between the left and right side of the heart is that the left side of the heart receives blood from the lungs, while the right side of the heart sends blood to the lungs.

Summary – Left and Right Sides of the Heart

The heart has two main sides; the left side of the heart and the right side of the heart. The left side of the heart has two chambers; left atrium and left ventricle and two heart valves; mitral valve and aortic valve. In contrast, the right side of the heart consists of two heart chambers; right atrium and right ventricle and two heart valves; tricuspid valve and pulmonary valve.The key difference between the left and right hemispheres of the heart is that the type of blood circulates. Oxygenated blood flows through the left side of the heart, while deoxygenated blood flows through the right side of the heart. In addition, the walls of the left half of the heart are thicker than the right wall. Hence, it is the difference between the left and right side of the heart.

Cardiologist: Enlarged heart in a patient

It so happened that when it comes to men’s health, the main focus is on sexual activity.And the experts are urologists, andrologists. And the prostate gland is even called “the second heart”. But it is not for nothing that cardiologists and representatives of other specialties took part in the work of the “Men’s Health” congress, which took place in Sochi. In particular, Simon Matskeplishvili, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Deputy Director for Scientific Work of the University Clinic of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, made one of the reports at the forum.

Simon, what’s the big heart of a man to you?

Simon Matskeplishvili: “A man with a big heart” – who doesn’t want to be said about him like that?This is how they call people kind, sympathetic, who can always understand and help, know how to sympathize with other people’s pain, sincerely rejoice in the happiness of other people, give a good mood and share with everyone the warmth and light of their soul.

I have deliberately used such a long and extremely positive definition of “big heart” in order to contrast it with a medical, namely cardiological, “outside view.” Indeed, for doctors, an enlarged heart in a patient is a serious problem.

This issue is especially relevant from the standpoint of men’s health, which requires close attention in our country.Opening the congress in Sochi, the president of the Russian society “Male and Reproductive Health” Academician Armais Kamalov presented his vision of the problem. He said that “for a modern man, the desire to increase life expectancy should be conditioned not by the fact that he will live longer in old age, but by the fact that old age should come much later.” Well, the ancient Chinese wisdom generally says that “The trick of life is to die young, but do it as late as possible.”

You ask: why exactly men’s health and “what are women to blame” for? My answer is, of course, they have nothing to do with it.But … First, Russian men live 13 years less than women. And, secondly, with a large number of programs for the protection of maternal and child health in our country, there is no unified state program for the protection of men’s health. Well, since they say that in every joke there is only a fraction of a joke, the statement “the weaker sex is actually male”, by and large, is true. It is very important that at the forum there was an exchange of experience between specialists of various fields. Moreover, a separate session was devoted to interdisciplinary male health problems.

Where you made a presentation …

Simon Matskeplishvili: In addition to me, a cardiologist, endocrinologists, somnologists, gynecologists and even psychiatrists spoke. And they agreed that the thesis “Take care of men” is more relevant than ever.

What’s the big heart problem?

Simon Matskeplishvili: An increase in its size indicates some kind of trouble. And this is not necessarily a heart disease.For example, in professional athletes, we often observe this phenomenon, which develops in response to excessive physical exertion. That is why retirement from high-performance sports requires compulsory medical support and supervision, with verified rehabilitation and a gradual transition to a “less sporting life”. Exactly in the same way as we rehabilitate really sick people.

But, unfortunately, an enlarged heart most often develops in its diseases, which can have completely different causes and manifestations.Hypertension prevails here, or an increase in blood pressure. Since in this condition the heart has to pump blood under increased stress, the volume of muscle tissue increases in the same way as during exercise. When working under pressure, the heart muscle gradually thickens and leads to an increase in the size of the heart itself. In the future, this can lead to a deficiency of nutrients and oxygen, the increased need for which cannot always be compensated by the body.

Another fairly common cause of heart enlargement is cardiomyopathy. This is a disease in which there is a degeneration of the heart muscle, its thinning and a significant expansion of the cavities of the heart. Pathology can be hereditary, but it often arises due to damage to the heart by viruses or, for example, excessive alcohol consumption. The heart can also increase with long-term arrhythmias, heart valve diseases, after heart attacks.

Big heart is always scary…

Simon Matskeplishvili: The point is that this condition necessarily leads to the development of heart failure. And insufficiency is the final result of almost all heart diseases, the mortality rate from which significantly exceeds that from all types of malignant neoplasms. After all, as they say, everyone is afraid of dying of cancer, but dying of heart failure. That is why diseases of the cardiovascular system must be treated at the earliest stages, until irreversible changes have occurred.The most effective measure to reduce mortality from them is prevention. Yes, a healthy lifestyle imposed on everyone’s teeth, giving up bad habits, regular physical activity, proper diet and sleep. As Academician Yuri Buziashvili says, and we cannot but agree with that, 320 out of 365 days a year we must take care of our health in order to be able to allow ourselves to relax in the remaining 45 days.

Back in 2002, a well-known Russian newspaper asked me to answer a reader’s question: “Is it possible to continue sexual activity after a heart attack?” I, unaware of the consequences, gave a detailed answer in which I said that, firstly, of course, it is possible and, secondly, we carry out certain studies that allow us to accurately answer this question of each individual patient and give him recommendations how to make this process safer.The very next day, the corridor in front of my office was filled with young and not so men. I realized how urgent this problem is. Let me give you a simple example. In the UK, more than 100 thousand married couples were interviewed: what do they consider the main condition for a normal family life, what is important for a happy marriage? So in the first and second place were honesty and respect between the spouses. And on the third – sexual relations. Income, household and religious problems were left behind. And even children.

But the fact is that men with heart disease are simply afraid to continue or resume this very sexual activity. And we, cardiologists, help them very little in this. It is cardiologists, not urologists or andrologists, to whom they mostly turn. A recent study in Holland, which involved nearly a thousand cardiologists, found that only 3 percent – only 31 people – discussed the issue of sexual activity with their patients. “The patient did not ask himself”, “There was no time”, “I was ashamed.”.. These are the explanations received from cardiologists, among many other reasons that impede the solution of the most important problem for men. What can we say about our country, in which the majority of cardiologists are women, and the majority of patients are men. And they are waiting for the doctor to start the discussion himself, they are worried, afraid. Men rarely go to doctors in general. And the most frequent reason for a visit to a cardiologist: my wife made me.

But maybe the myths, which are many around this topic, are also getting in the way?

Simon Matskeplishvili: There are many myths.For example, this: sex leads to an overload of the cardiovascular system. In fact, in terms of physical activity, it is no higher than cycling or ironing. We often say: if a patient can go up to the 2-3 floor without problems and at a fast pace, then he will not have problems in sex either. Or another myth: sex can cause a heart attack or even death. Indeed, there is a small risk of heart complications upon resumption of sexual activity after myocardial infarction. But with normal rehabilitation, it does not exceed this risk in perfectly healthy men who do not suffer from any heart disease.

According to world data, at least 50% of deaths from heart attacks in men occur without any, as they believe, cardiovascular disease. And here I would like to say about the most important thing. Many men suffer from the so-called erectile dysfunction, or, as it is often called, sexual weakness, or impotence. So, a man younger than 55 years old with erectile dysfunction without the presence of diseases of the cardiovascular system has a risk of dying from an acute heart attack 50 (!!!) times higher than that of his peer with normal sexual function.

If the patient can quickly climb to the 2-3 floor, then he will have no problems in sex too

Moreover, the so-called third Princeton consensus, adopted in 2012, says: “A man with erectile dysfunction without clinical manifestations of the cardiac vascular disease is a serious cardiac patient. ” The bottom line is that the cause of both erectile dysfunction and fatal heart attacks is most often the same process, which manifests itself in the form of sexual dysfunction 3-4 years before it leads to severe heart disease.In other words, nature gives us one of the best signals that should make both doctors and patients pay serious attention to identifying hidden problems and successfully prevent formidable complications. So the expression that the way to a man’s heart is through the stomach can also be considered a myth. In a cardiological sense, this path lies through a completely different organ.

What is the conclusion?

Simon Matskeplishvili: Let our men have a “big heart” only in a figurative sense.So that next to them everyone was good and calm, and let their “fiery motor” remain in normal size for many years.

Cardiomegaly: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment | doc.ua

Reasons

An increase in the size of the heart is a natural process in some people, in particular in athletes or those who are often involved in manual labor. In such cases, the heart needs to pump large volumes of blood, as a result of which the muscle fibers stretch and increase in volume.

But when a bovine heart is diagnosed, the picture develops in a different way: the heart organ becomes flabby and emaciated due to the disease, and the stretching of muscle fibers does not occur, since there is not enough strength for normal work. Or an enlargement of the heart is observed in hypertension, when the body has to involuntarily gain momentum to overcome the pressure that has arisen in the system – this also contributes to the growth of heart failure and organ wear and tear.

Only experienced doctors will be able to establish the cause of the enlargement of the heart, although most doctors can only roughly name and make such a diagnosis.

Today, there are several factors that can be the cause of the disease:

• hypertension;
• kidney disease;
• ischemic heart disease;
• viruses or infections affecting the heart;
• drug or alcohol abuse;
• genetic factors, since the symptom sometimes occurs in newborns or intrauterine children;
• development of a heart valve with abnormalities;
• consequences of pregnancy and childbirth.

Symptoms

An increase in heart mass is an insidious pathology that is not marked by certain symptoms. But, first of all, you need to be careful if there is arrhythmia or frequent shortness of breath, swelling or pain in the heart area. Most of these symptoms manifest themselves in other heart diseases. Symptoms of an enlarged heart can usually only be detected with a specific physical examination.

Diagnostics

Only a cardiologist can make an accurate diagnosis, but for this it is necessary to use additional methods:

• blood test;
• tomography;
• chest x-ray;
• cardiac catheterization;
• sometimes – biopsy of the inner surface of the heart ventricles.

To make an appointment with a cardiologist, use the Doc.ua service. The site contains a large database of clinics and specialists.

Treatment

Only the experience of professionals has helped to develop effective methods through which treatment is carried out. Usually, if a person has cardiomegaly, treatment begins with the stage of eliminating the underlying cause that caused the pathology. That is, if a person suffers from coronary heart disease, then the main treatment is aimed at eliminating this particular disease.Moreover, there are both medical and surgical methods.

Thanks to the use of medications, it is possible to lower blood pressure and remove excess fluid from the body. Surgical intervention will help repair damaged valves, as well as improve the performance of blood vessels that supply oxygen to the heart.

The doctor may recommend taking certain medications, including:

• beta blockers to improve heart function and lower blood pressure;
• diuretics, which help to reduce the amount of sodium in the body;
• ACE to improve the pumping work of the heart;
• Anticoagulants to prevent blood clots leading to heart attack.

If you need to check the availability of medicines prescribed by a doctor in pharmacies in Kiev, you can do this on our resource. Also on it you can quickly find all the necessary information on medicines and book them.

Naturally, if drugs do not give any effect, then medical procedures or operations are inevitable. The most common surgical methods are:

• heart valve surgery – performed if the problem is caused by heart valves, in particular, a narrow valve is removed and replaced with an artificial one;
• Coronary artery bypass grafting – This intervention is recommended if the patient has coronary artery disease;
• Left ventricular assistive devices – In case of heart failure, a special pump may need to be implanted to help the heart work.
• devices for regulating the heartbeat – with an enlarged heart, a pacemaker is used to coordinate the contractions of the heart muscle.

When an enlarged heart occurs, the consequences can manifest themselves in different ways, so with the least risks it is worth paying attention to your health. The lifestyle should be healthy, that is, the person should not smoke or consume alcohol. He must constantly monitor his blood pressure, eat less salt, engage in appropriate physical activity, and lose weight.

Syndrome of hypoplasia of the left heart. Symptoms, diagnosis, treatment

Left heart hypoplastic syndrome is a serious congenital heart disease that occurs when the left side of the heart does not form properly during the life of the fetus.

Both the chambers of the heart and the valve structures on the left side of the heart are affected. This includes the left atrium, the left ventricle, the mitral valve that separates the two chambers, the aortic valve, which protects the opening of the left ventricle into the aorta, and the first or ascending part of the aorta. All of these structures are fundamentally underdeveloped and very small in size, so they cannot function as expected.

Many children with this condition also have an atrial septal defect.This refers to the preservation of an opening in the septum separating the two upper chambers of the heart or atrium. This type of opening is present in fetal life, but becomes abnormal when it persists in the postpartum life, resulting in abnormal communication between the atria.

Symptoms

The normal heart has four chambers: two upper atria (right and left) for receiving deoxygenated venous blood and oxygenated blood from the lungs, respectively, and two lower ventricles that pump blood obtained from the atria into the pulmonary system.

However, in a child with this condition, an undeveloped left ventricle cannot pump oxygenated blood into the body. This blood is directed to the right side of the heart through two holes between the left and right sides of the heart, which are usually present in a newborn. They are called foramen ovale and patent ductus arteriosus. This allows oxygenated blood (from the left heart) and deoxygenated blood (from the right side of the heart) to mix in the right atrium and right ventricle.This mixture is pumped into both the lungs and the body through the right ventricle.

Closing these openings, which occurs within a few days after birth, blocks this escape route and prevents oxygenated blood from entering the systemic circulation in infants. This is because their left ventricle is unable to pump this blood through the aorta to the entire body. In children without this disease, the left ventricle readily adapts to the closure of the right left canal.

Main symptoms in infants

• dyspnea
• cyanosis or bluish discoloration around the mouth and lips
• rapid heartbeat
• weak pulse

Diagnostics and treatment

This syndrome is diagnosed shortly before birth. After birth, the presence of symptoms of cardiovascular disease in combination with a heart murmur may lead to suspicion of congenital cyanotic heart disease, confirmed by echocardiogram.

Initial treatment is based on diuretics, digoxin and antihypertensive drugs.

Surgical treatment

The definitive treatment that allows the child to survive is surgical and consists of staged operations. After corrective surgery, lifelong drug use is required. Complications can arise and persist throughout the patient’s life. Therefore, this condition is not cured by surgery, but is improved to the point that the patient can survive.

Disclaimer : This content, including tips, provides general information only. This is in no way a substitute for a qualified medical report. Always consult a specialist or your healthcare professional for more information.

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90,000 Dr. Muthu Jyoti – Best Pediatric CTVS in India: Online Consultation, Appointments, Reviews

Conditions That Dr. Muthu Jyoti Treats

Children can have many types of cardiovascular diseases that Dr. Muthu Jyoti treats and we have listed some of them here for your convenience.

• Left Heart Hypoplasia Syndrome
• Patent Document Ovale
• Tetralogy of Fallot
• Sciatic Atrial Defect
• Patent Ductus Arteriosus

Cardiovascular diseases of the chest occur at birth and are commonly known at birth in infants.The CTVS pediatric surgeon works in team with a primary care pediatrician to treat children for their CTV conditions. Pediatric conditions of KTV in children arise for the following reasons:

1. Genetics
2. Unhealthy lifestyle
3. Maternal smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy
4. Viral infection in the first trimester of pregnancy

Signs and symptoms to check before visiting a doctor Muthu Jyoti

There are many signs and symptoms of congenital KTV disease in children, such as:

• Shortness of breath
• Fatigue
• Pale skin
• Difficulty feeding (especially sweating while breastfeeding)
• Blue color around the lips and blue discoloration skin (cyanosis)
• Poor growth

If even less physical activity tires your child and gets tired quickly, then he definitely has CTV disease.Some of the other symptoms of your child’s CTV condition are chest pain and heart palpitations. As the link between symptoms and CTV status becomes clearer, make sure you contact your surgeon quickly.

Working hours of Dr. Muthu Jyoti

The doctor works from 10: 4 to 10: 1 from Monday to Friday, and on Saturday and Sunday from XNUMX: XNUMX: XNUMX: XNUMX. The surgeons who perform CTVS pediatric surgeries are experienced and exceptionally skilled and provide the best possible results.

Popular procedures performed by Dr. Muthu Jyoti

Pediatric CTVS includes many popular procedures such as:

• TEE
• Cardiac catheterization (cardiac catheterization)
• Stress Echocardiogram with S
• Blood Test
• Physical Exam
• Chest X-ray
• Exercise (Stress) Test
• Echocardiogram (ECHO)
• Fetal Echocardiogram
• Holter Monitor
• Electrocardiogram

Emergency or EKG132 Important CTVS procedures must be performed with a high degree of accuracy.When pediatric CTVS is performed according to best practice, the focus should be on a patient-centered approach. It is very important for your child to go through the full rehabilitation process after the pediatric CTVS procedure.

Past Experience

• Senior Consultant – Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi
• Senior Consultant – Artemis Hospital, Gurgaon, 2010
• Consultant – Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, London

–

• Consultant and Harefield NHS trust, London

Qualification

• MCh – Thoracic Surgery – Madras College of Medicine, Chennai, 1995
• MS – General Surgery – INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, CHANDIGARH, 1992
• MBBS – Madras Medical College, Chennai, 1987

Dr. Ahmet Kaliskan – a popular cardiac surgeon 11 reviews in Turkey: 9001 appointments The human heart has four types of valves – mitral, aortic, tricuspid and pulmonary. The mitral and tricuspid valves are located between the superior and inferior chambers of the heart. On the other hand, the aortic and pulmonary valves are present in two arteries leaving the heart.

Most often, it is the mitral and aortic valves that undergo certain pathological changes due to degenerative valve diseases, rheumatic heart defects or infective endocarditis. This can lead to problems with opening and closing the valve.

These dysfunctions can be treated with valve repair or valve replacement surgery. Aortic valve replacement or mitral valve replacement is performed when only one of the valves is affected or damaged.However, if both valves are diseased or damaged, surgery is performed to replace the double valve.

About the disease

Heart valves present in the heart are responsible for ensuring the flow of nutrient-rich blood through the chambers of the heart. Each valve is expected to close completely after the blood is released. Sore or damaged valves cannot open and close properly, resulting in mixing and backflow of blood (regurgitation).

Double Valve Replacement Surgery is mainly aimed at solving the problem of valvular heart disease and includes both aortic valve replacement and mitral valve replacement. The mitral valve is located between the left atrium and the left ventricle, and the aortic valve is located between the aorta and the left ventricle.

Causes of heart valve disease

Some of the causes of heart valve disease include the following:

• Heart stenosis or narrowing
• High blood pressure and heart failure, which enlarge the heart and arteries and contribute to the development of valvular disease.
• Atherosclerosis
• Scar tissue and damage from a heart attack or any damage to the heart
• Strep throat or rheumatic fever can cause valve problems
• Infection caused by germs entering the bloodstream can affect one of the heart valves, and such an infection is infective endocarditis.
• Lupus-like autoimmune diseases can affect the aorta and mitral valve.
• Carcinoid Syndrome
• Diet drugs such as fenfluramine and phentermine can sometimes cause valvular disease.
• Marfan syndrome
• Metabolic disorders such as Fabry disease or high blood cholesterol levels.
• Chest radiation therapy may cause heart valve disease.

Symptoms of double valve replacement

Some of the symptoms of heart valve disease include the following:

• Fluid retention in the lower extremities
• Chest pain
• Fatigue and dizziness
• Dizziness and shortness of breath
• Cyanosis

  Double valve replacement surgery is complex compared to single valve replacement surgery.Aortic valve replacement and mitral valve replacement involve only one valve replacement, but during double valve replacement surgery, both affected valves are removed at the same time and replaced with a synthetic (mechanical) or biological valve.

  In the case of mechanical valves, the components used are not of organic or natural origin.