Where is your heart?
Your heart is located in front of your chest. It sits slightly behind and to the left of your breastbone (sternum). Your ribcage protects your heart.
Which side is your heart on?
Your heart is slightly on the left side of your body. It is located between your right and your left lungs. The left lung is slightly smaller to make room for the heart in your left chest.
How big is your heart?
Everyone’s heart is a slightly different size. Typically, adults’ hearts are about the same size as two clenched fists, and children’s hearts are about the same size as a closed fist.
How much does your heart weigh?
On average, an adult’s heart weighs about 10 ounces. Your heart may weigh a little more or a little less, depending on your size and gender.
What are the parts of the anatomy of the heart?
The parts of your heart are like the parts of a house. Your heart has:
- Walls.
- Rooms (rooms).
- Valves (doors).
- Blood vessels (plumbing).
- Electrical conduction system (electricity).
Heart walls
The walls of your heart are the muscles that contract (tighten) and relax to send blood throughout your body. A layer of muscle tissue called the septum divides the walls of your heart into the left and right sides.
Your heart walls are made up of three layers:
- Endocardium: Inner layer.
- Myocardium: Intermediate muscular layer.
- Epicardium: Protective outer layer.
The epicardium is a layer of your pericardium. The pericardium is a protective sac that covers your entire heart. It produces fluid to lubricate your heart and prevent it from rubbing against other organs.
Cardiac chambers
Your heart is divided into four chambers. You have two chambers at the top (atrium, several atria) and two at the bottom (ventricles), one on each side of the heart.
- Right earpiece: Two large veins carry oxygen-poor blood to your right atrium. The superior vena cava carries blood from the upper body. The inferior vena cava brings blood from the lower body. Then the right atrium pumps blood to your right ventricle.
- Right ventricle: The lower right chamber pumps oxygen-poor blood to your lungs through the pulmonary artery. The lungs refill the blood with oxygen.
- Left earpiece: After the lungs fill the blood with oxygen, the pulmonary veins carry the blood to the left atrium. This upper chamber pumps blood to your left ventricle.
- Left ventricle: The left ventricle is slightly larger than the right. It pumps oxygen-rich blood to the rest of your body.
Heart valves
Your heart valves are like doors between the chambers of your heart. They open and close to allow blood to circulate.
The atrioventricular (AV) valves open between your upper and lower heart chambers. They understand:
- Tricuspid valve: Portal between your right atrium and your right ventricle.
- The mitral valve: Portal between your left atrium and your left ventricle.
The semilunar (SL) valves open as blood flows from your ventricles. They understand:
- The aortic valve: Opens when blood flows out of your left ventricle into your aorta (artery that carries oxygen-rich blood to your body).
- Pulmonary valve: Opens when blood flows from your right ventricle to your pulmonary arteries (the only arteries that carry oxygen-poor blood to your lungs).
Blood vessels
Your heart pumps blood through three types of blood vessels:
- Arteries carry oxygen-rich blood from your heart to the tissues of your body. The exception is your pulmonary arteries, which go to your lungs.
- Veins bring oxygen-poor blood back to your heart.
- Capillaries are small blood vessels in which your body exchanges oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood.
Your heart receives nutrients through a network of coronary arteries. These arteries run along the surface of your heart. They serve the heart itself.
- Left coronary artery: Divides into two branches (the circumflex artery and the left anterior descending artery).
- Circumflex artery: Supplies blood to the left atrium and to the sides and back of the left ventricle.
- Left anterior descending artery (LAD): Supplies blood to the front and bottom of the left ventricle and to the front of the septum.
- Right coronary artery (RCA): Supplies blood to the right atrium, right ventricle, lower left ventricle, and back of the septum.
Electrical conduction system
Your heart’s conduction system is like the electrical wiring in a house. It controls the rhythm and pace of your heartbeat. He understands:
- Sinoatrial (SA) node: Sends the signals that make your heart beat.
- Atrioventricular (AV) node: Carries electrical signals from the upper chambers of your heart to the lower chambers.
Your heart also has a network of electrical bundles and fibers. This network includes:
- Left branch of the harness: Sends electrical impulses to your left ventricle.
- Right branch of the bundle: Sends electrical impulses to your right ventricle.
- Pack of him: Sends impulses from your AV node to the Purkinje fibers.
- Purkinje fibers: Make your heart ventricles contract and pump blood.
