Heart Anatomy Overview

(Heart Anatomy Overview) The heart is a fist sized, muscular organ situated in the chest, serving as the body's life sustaining pump. It consists of four chambers, two atria and two ventricles. Its primary function is to circulate blood. With the right side receiving non oxygenated blood and sending it to the lungs for oxygenation while the left side receives oxygen rich blood and distributed throughout the body.

Crucial to this process are the heart's valves, ensuring proper blood flow. The heart's rhythm is controlled by an electrical system led by the sign of atrial note, maintaining heart health through a balanced lifestyle is vital as the heart tirelessly pumps about 2000 gallons of blood daily, making it a crucial player in our overall well-being. Let's talk about basic anatomy of the heart Heart wall.

The heart has a strong wall made of muscle called the myocardium. This muscle is covered by layers and protected by a special bag called the Pericardium. The pericardium is made of strong stuff with some layers inside. These layers have a bit of liquid in between them, like a cushion. They help the heart move easily and safely inside your chest without rubbing too much.

The heart's muscle has lines inside it called striated muscle fibers. They stretch when the heart fills with blood and squeeze when it needs to pump that blood out to make the heart squeeze at the right time. There are some special wires inside it. These wires send signals to tell the heart when to squeeze and when to relax. Heart chambers and valves.

The heart's interior comprises two upper chambers, the atria and two lower chambers. The ventricles. Atrioventricular valves between the atria and ventricles and semi lunar valves between the ventricles and the arteries outside the heart. Regulate the direction of blood flow. The right atrium receives deoxygenated blood from the systemic circulation. The right ventricle receives that blood from the atrium, then contracts to eject it through the pulmonary arteries to the lungs simultaneously.

The left atrium receives oxygenated blood from the lungs via the pulmonary veins. The left ventricle receives that blood from the atrium, then contracts to eject it through the aorta to the systemic circulation. The valves open to allow blood flow from the atria to the ventricles. When the ventricles contract the AV valves close to prevent back flow simultaneously. Ventricular contraction forces the semi lunar valves open, allowing for blood ejection.

When contraction finishes, the semi lunar valves shut to prevent backflow from the arteries. Cardiac conduction. The cardiac conduction system delivers electrical impulses to the heart and stimulates contractions. Each impulse sets a normal rhythm of 60 to 100 beats per minute. The impulse travels through the heart really fast. It makes the heart muscles squeezed so that your heart can pump the blood.

After that, the heart takes a little break. This is called Repolarization, and it lets the heart get ready for the next beat. The signal then goes to the top part of the heart called the Atria and tells them to squeeze before it goes to the bottom part of your heart. The signal takes a little break again at a place called the Atrioventricular Node.

Then the signal goes to the bottom part of your heart, making it squeeze really hard. When the bottom part squeezes, it pushes the blood out of your body through special doors called valves. Doctors can use a special machine called an EKG to listen to these electric signals in your heart. It helps them make sure your heart is working just right.

Cardiac output. Cardiac output is like the amount of blood your heart pushes into your body to keep it healthy. It's determined by two things how fast your heart beats heart rate, and how much blood it pushes out with each beat. Stroke Volume. The first thing that affects stroke volume is how much blood is in your heart rate before it squeezes.

This depends on how much blood comes back to your heart from your body through the veins. It also depends on how big your heart is and how well it can stretch. The second thing is called ejection fraction, which is the part of the blood in your heart that actually gets pumped out when your heart squeezes. This depends on how strong your heart squeeze is and how hard it has to push against the blood in your arteries.

After your heart squeezes, the leftover blood in your heart is called end systolic volume. So in simple terms, cardiac output is how much blood your heart pumps to keep your body healthy. And it's influenced by how fast your heart beats, how much blood fills your heart before it squeezes, and how well your heart can pump that blood out.