The heart is a muscular organ that is about as large as your fist and is located at the center of your chest. This hollow organ pumps blood throughout the body. The heart performs two pumping functions at the same time. The heart pumps oxygenated blood to the body
and it pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs.
Structure of the heart
The heart is made of cardiac muscle. It is capable of conducting electrical impulses for muscular contractions. The heart is divided into four compartments called chambers. The two chambers in the top half of the heart—the right atrium and the left atrium (plural
atria)—receive blood returning to the heart.
Below the atria are the right and left ventricles
which pump blood away from the heart. A strong muscular wall separates the left side of the heart from the right side of the heart. The right and left atria have thinner muscular walls and do less work than the ventricles.
The valves that separate the atria from the ventricles and keep blood flowing in one direction. Valves also are found in between each ventricle and the large blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart
such as the aortic valve shown in a closed position
HEART
Pulmonary valve
Right pulmonary
arteries
Right
lung
Right
pulmonary
veins
Right
atrium
Tricuspid
valve
Right
Superior body To body
vena cava
From
ventricle
Inferior
