Anatomy and Physiology

The essential function of the heart is to pump blood to various parts of the
body. The mammalian heart has four chambers: right and left atria and right and left
ventricles. The two atria act as collecting reservoirs for blood returning to the heart
while the two ventricles act as pumps to eject the blood to the body. As in any
pumping system, the heart comes complete with valves to prevent the back flow of
blood. Deoxygenated blood returns to the heart via the major veins (superior and
inferior vena cava), enters the right atrium, passes into the right ventricle, and from
there is ejected to the pulmonary artery on the way to the lungs. Oxygenated blood
returning from the lungs enters the left atrium via the pulmonary veins, passes into
the left ventricle, and is then ejected to the aorta. In the frontal view of the heart
shown below, the right atrium is in blue, the left atrium in yellow, the right ventricle in
purple, and the left ventricle in red. The chambers are semi-transparent so that the
valves, drawn in white, can be seen.
The heart weighs between 7 and 15 ounces (200 to 425 grams) and is a little
larger than the size of your fist. By the end of a long life, a person's heart may have
beat (expanded and contracted) more than 3.5 billion times. In fact, each day, the
average heart beats 100,000 times, pumping about 2,000 gallons (7,571 liters) of
blood.
The heart is located between your lungs in the middle of your chest, behind
and slightly to the left of your breastbone (sternum).  Muscle tissue, known as
myocardium or cardiac muscle, wraps around a scaffolding of tough connective
tissue to form the walls of the heart’s chambers. The atria, the receiving chambers of
the heart, have relatively thin walls compared to the ventricles, the pumping
chambers. The left ventricle has the thickest walls nearly 1 cm (0.5 in) thick in an
adult because it must work the hardest to propel blood to the farthest reaches of the
body.
A tough, double-layered sac known as the pericardium surrounds the heart.
The inner layer of the pericardium, known as the epicardium, rests directly on top of
the heart muscle. The outer layer of the pericardium attaches to the breastbone and
other structures in the chest cavity and helps hold the heart in place. Between the
two layers of the pericardium is a thin space filled with a watery fluid that helps
prevent these layers from rubbing against each other when the heart beats.
 The inner surfaces of the heart’s chambers are lined with a thin sheet of
shiny, white tissue known as the endocardium. The same type of tissue, more
broadly referred to as endothelium, also lines the body’s blood vessels, forming one
continuous lining throughout the circulatory system. This lining helps blood flow
smoothly and prevents blood clots from forming inside the circulatory system.
The heart has 4 chambers. The upper chambers are called the left and right
atria, and the lower chambers are called the left and right ventricles. A wall of muscle
called the septum separates the left and right atria and the left and right ventricles.
The left ventricle is the largest and strongest chamber in your heart. The left
ventricle's chamber walls are only about a half-inch thick, but they have enough force
to push blood through the aortic valve and into your body.
The heart is nourished not by the blood passing through its chambers but by a
specialized network of blood vessels. Known as the coronary arteries, these blood
vessels encircle the heart like a crown.
There are four types of valves that regulate blood flow through the heart.
The tricuspid valve regulates blood flow between the right atrium and right ventricle.
The pulmonary valve controls blood flow from the right ventricle into the pulmonary
arteries, which carry blood to your lungs to pick up oxygen. The mitral valve lets
oxygen-rich blood from your lungs pass from the left atrium into the left ventricle. The
aortic valve opens the way for oxygen-rich blood to pass from the left ventricle into
the aorta, your body's largest artery, where it is delivered to the rest of your body.
Figure 1. Gross Anatomy of the Heart