Normal Heart

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Diagram: Normal Heart

Heart chambers

The heart is made up of 4 chambers: two filling chambers (medical term: right and left atria) and two pumping chambers (medical term: right and left ventricle). In the normal heart, left ventricle pumps blood to the body and the right ventricle pumps blood to the lungs.

The left heart contains oxygen-rich blood for the body. The right heart contains oxygen-poor blood, which is pumped through the lungs to be filled with oxygen.

Blood vessels

There are two large blood vessels (medical term: aorta and pulmonary artery) that leave the heart. The aorta allows blood to exit the left heart and delivers blood to the body. The pulmonary artery allows blood to exit the right heart and directs blood to the lungs.

The blood vessels that return blood to the heart are called veins.

There are blood vessels that supply the heart muscle (medical term: ventricles) with blood. These blood vessels are called “coronary arteries”.

Heart valves

Between the chambers of the heart there are flaps called heart valves. The valves open and close and allow blood to enter and exit the heart. The flaps are sometimes called leaflets or cusps. There are 4 heart valves. The tricuspid valve and the pulmonary valve are on the right side of the heart, and the mitral and the aortic valve are on the left side of the heart.

Electrical system

The heart also has an electrical system. The electrical system triggers an impulse throughout the heart, which tells the heart to contract and pump blood. Normally the heart sends off impulses 60-100 times each minute (heart beats). When the heartbeat is not normal it is called an arrhythmia.

To learn more about a normal heart, please visit:
American Heart Association – Anatomy of the Heart