THE HEART
WHAT IS THE HEART?
• The heart is a fist-sized organ that
pumps blood throughout your body. It’s
your circulatory system main organ.
Muscle and tissue make up this
powerhouse organ.
• Your heart contains four muscular sections
(chambers) that briefly hold blood before
moving it. Electrical impulses make your
heart beat, moving blood through these
chambers. Your brain and nervous
system direct your heart’s function.
HOW BIG IS YOUR HEART?
• Everyone’s heart is a slightly different size.
Generally, your heart is about the same size
as your fist. On average, an adult’s heart
weighs about 10 ounces. Your heart may
weigh a little more or a little less, depending
on your body size and gender.
WHAT IS THE FUNCTION OF THE HEART?
• Your heart’s main function is to move blood throughout your body.
Blood brings oxygen and nutrients to your cells. It also takes away
carbon dioxide and other waste so other organs can dispose of them.
• Your heart also:
• Controls the rhythm and speed of your heart rate.
• Maintains your blood pressure.
• Your heart works with these body systems to control your heart rate
and other body functions:
• Nervous system: Your nervous system helps control your heart rate.
It sends signals that tell your heart to beat slower during rest and
faster during stress.
• Endocrine system: Your endocrine system sends out hormones.
These hormones tell your blood vessels to constrict or relax, which
affects your blood pressure. Hormones from your thyroid gland can also
tell your heart to beat faster or slower.
WHAT ARE THE PARTS OF THE HEART?
• The parts of your heart are like the parts of a building. Your heart
anatomy includes:
• Walls.
• Chambers that are like rooms.
• Valves that open and close like doors to the rooms.
• Blood vessels like plumbing pipes that run through a building.
• An electrical Conducting system like electrical power that runs through
a building
• Heart walls
• Your heart walls are the muscles that contract (squeeze) and relax to send blood throughout your
body. A layer of muscular tissue called the septum divides your heart walls into the left and right
sides.
• Your heart walls have three layers:
• Endocardium: Inner layer.
• Myocardium: Muscular middle layer.
• Epicardium: Protective outer layer.
• The epicardium is one layer of your Pericadium. The pericardium is a protective sac that covers your
entire heart. It produces fluid to lubricate your heart and keep it from rubbing against other organs.
HEART CHAMBERS
• Your heart has four separate chambers. You have two chambers on the
top (atrium, plural atria) and two on the bottom (ventricles), one on
each side of your heart.
• Right atrium: Two large veins deliver oxygen-poor blood to your right
atrium. The superior vena carva carries blood from your upper body.
The inferior vena cava brings blood from your lower body. Then the
right atrium pumps the blood to your right ventricle.
• Right ventricle: The lower right chamber pumps the oxygen-poor
blood to your lungs through the pulmonary artery. The lungs reload the
blood with oxygen.
• Left atrium: After the lungs fill your blood with oxygen, the pulmonary
veins carry the blood to the left atrium. This upper chamber pumps the
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 your heart chambers. They
open and close to allow blood to flow
through. They also keep your blood
from moving in the wrong direction.
ATRIOVENTRICULAR VALVES
• The atrioventricular (AV) valves open between your upper and lower
heart chambers. They include:
• Tricuspid valve: Door between your right atrium and right ventricle.
• Mitral valve: Door between your left atrium and left ventricle
SEMILUNAR VALVES
• Semilunar (SL) valves open when blood flows out of your ventricles.
They include:
• Aortic valve: Opens when blood flows out of your left ventricle to your
aorta(artery that carries oxygen-rich blood to your body).
• Pulmonary valve: Opens when blood flows from your right ventricle
to your pulmonary artery (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 your body’s tissues.
The exception is your pulmonary arteries, which go to your lungs.
• Veins carry oxygen-poor blood back to your heart.
• Capillarities are small blood vessels where your body exchanges
oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood
CORONARY ARTERIES
• Your heart receives nutrients through a network of coronary arteries. These arteries
run along your heart’s surface. They serve the heart itself and include the:
• 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 the side and back of the left
ventricle.
• Left anterior descending artery (LAD): Supplies blood to the front and bottom of
the left ventricle and the front of the septum.
• Right coronary artery (RCA): Supplies blood to the right atrium, right ventricle,
bottom portion of the left ventricle and back of the septum
ELECTRICAL CONDUCTION SYSTEM
• Your heart’s conduction system is like the electrical wiring of a building. It controls the
rhythm and pace of your heartbeat. Signals start at the top of your heart and move down to
the bottom. Your conduction system includes:
• Sinoatrial (SA) node: Sends the signals that make your heart beat.
• Atrioventricular (AV) node: Carries electrical signals from your heart’s upper chambers
to its lower ones.
• Left bundle branch: Sends electric impulses to your left ventricle.
• Right bundle branch: Sends electric impulses to your right ventricle.
• Bundle of His: Sends impulses from your AV node to the Purkinje fibers.
• Purkinje fibers: Make your heart ventricles contract and pump out blood