FHSC 1224

INTRODUCTION TO
PHYSIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

Name AARON WONG CHUNG HIENG
Partners Name -
Practical 4
Experiment THE MAMMALIAN HEART
Group P1
Date 28 Feb 2014
Lecturer MS. ONG KIAH JU


Title: Circulatory system l: The mammalian Heart
Objective: To study the structure of mammalian heart.
Discussion:
Figure : Drawing and labeling of the mammalian heart

1. Pulmonary artery and aorta arise from the right and left ventricles
respectively; vena cava opens into the right atrium; pulmonary veins opens
into the left atrium; the coronary artery carry oxygen and food to the wall
muscles of the heart.

2. When water was run into the vena cava and pulmonary vein, it emerged from
the pulmonary artery and aorta respectively.

3. The bicuspid valve has two flaps and the tricuspid valve has three flaps
which are supported by non-elastic cords, the heart strings, attached to the
papillary muscle. The cord support the atrioventricular valves and prevent the
valves from turning inside out into the atria when the ventricles contract.

4. In life, the atrioventricular valves (the left bicuspid valve and the right
tricuspid valve) prevent the backflow of blood from the ventricles into the
respective atria.

5. The two atria have much thinner walls than the two ventricles as they only
have to force blood into the ventricles and this does not require much force.
The chamber with the thickest wall is the left ventricle. Its wall is about 3
times as thick as that of the right ventricle, and this is because the left
ventricle pumps blood round the whole body while the right ventricle pumps
blood to the lung which is a short distance from the heart.

6. The flow of blood through the heart in a mammal is as follows:

Body -> vena cava -> right atrium -> right ventricle -> pulmonary artery ->

lungs -> pulmonary vein -> left atrium -> left ventricle -> aorta -> body

7. Diameter of lumen of arteries is smaller whereas diameter of lumen of veins is
larger. Besides that, wall of arteries is thicker whereas wall of veins is thinner.
Furthermore, arteries do not have valves, while veins have one-way valves.

8. Arteries have a thicker and stronger elastic muscular wall than veins as
arteries need to pump blood from the heart at high pressure. Arteries need to
withstand a higher pressure than veins. On the other hand, veins have one-
way valve which help to transport the blood from the body to heart against
gravity and also prevent the backflow of blood.

9. An unbalanced diet that contains high portion of saturated fats and
cholesterol will lead to coronary heart disease. The plaque is formed in the
coronary artery and blocked the blood flow to the heart as the excessive fats
and cholesterol cant be store under the skin. This will cause an insufficient
oxygenated blood to cardiac muscle and lead to muscle dies resulting in a
heart attack.