How the Normal Heart Works
The heart is a large muscular organ with the very important job of
circulating blood through the blood vessels to the body. Located in the
center of the chest, the heart is the hardest working muscle in the
human body — always working, even while we are sleeping. The heart
and blood vessels together make up the body's cardiovascular system
and are vital to supplying the body with the necessary oxygen and
nutrients needed to survive. When you breathe, your lungs take in
oxygen. The heart pumps blood to the lungs to pick up oxygen, and
then it pumps blood through the body to deliver that oxygen.
The structure of the heart
The heart is a two-sided pump made up of four chambers: the upper
two chambers called atria and the lower two called the ventricles.
On the right side of the heart, the right atrium and right ventricle
work to pump oxygen-poor blood returning from the body back to
the lungs to be reoxygenated.
On the left side of the heart, the left atrium and left ventricle
combine to pump oxygenated blood back through the body.
Muscular walls, called septa or septum, divide the heart into two
sides and keep the two kinds of blood from mixing.
Heart valves
There are four valves within the heart. Each valve has flaps that
prevent blood from flowing in the wrong direction — opening to allow
forward flow of blood and closing to prevent backward flow.
The tricuspid valve is between the right atrium and the right
ventricle
The pulmonary valve is between the right ventricle and the
pulmonary artery
The mitral valve is between the left atrium and the left ventricle
The aortic valve is located between the left ventricle and the aorta
How blood circulates through the heart and body
The four chambers of the heart are attached to major veins or arteries
that either bring blood into or carry blood away from the heart.
The two largest veins in the body, the superior and inferior vena
cava, bring the oxygen-poor (blue) blood to the heart into the right
atrium.
This oxygen-poor blood then passes through the tricuspid valve into
the right ventricle. The tricuspid valve closes after the blood passes
through to prevent it from flowing back into the right atrium.
The right ventricle fills and contracts to pump blood to the lungs.
The right ventricle pumps blood through the pulmonary valve into
the pulmonary artery. Once blood passes into the pulmonary artery
the pulmonary valve closes to prevent backflow of blood into the
right ventricle.
The two branches of the pulmonary artery carry blood to both
lungs.
In the lungs, the blood picks up oxygen and expels carbon dioxide.
Reoxygenated blood (red blood) leaving the lungs enters the heart
through the pulmonary veins and is carried into the left atrium.
The reoxygenated blood then flows through the mitral valve and
into the left ventricle. The mitral valve closes after the blood passes
through to prevent backflow.
The left ventricle, the most muscular chamber of the heart, then
contracts with enough pressure to send the blood through the
aortic valve and into the aorta. After the blood passes through the
aortic valve it closes to prevent backflow of blood into the left
ventricle.
The aorta branches into arteries, arterioles and capillaries as it
delivers blood throughout the body.
At the capillaries the blood delivers its supply of oxygen and picks
up carbon dioxide. It then begins its journey back to the heart,
through the veins, and back into the inferior and superior vena
cava for the process to begin again.
The heart's control system
A heartbeat is caused by an electrical impulse traveling through the
heart. The heart's built-in electrical system controls the speed of its
pumping. The electrical impulse originates in the sinus node which
functions as the heart's natural pacemaker. The sinus node is most
often located in the top of the right atrium. The electrical signals
travel through the heart tissue causing the atria and ventricles to
contract and relax and the blood to be pumped to the body.
