Prospectus project: Heart

Lesly Pineda

April 23,2020

For my prospectus project I decided to focus my project of the heart. I will be painting three views of the
heart: anterior/(front), posterior/(back) and deep(interior). I will also be writing a brief summary on the
overview of the heart also on how the blood flows and lastly a pathology on the heart.

Heart overview

The heart is a muscle organ, it has its own muscle tissue that is found nowhere else in the body except
the heart, this tissue is called Cardiac muscle. This muscle involuntary contracts and relaxes on its own
without you being conscious of it. The size of your heart is relatively the size of your fist and its located
in your chest toward the middle of your body and a little to the left. The medical term for the heart is
cardiac and cardiovascular means pertaining to the blood vessels and heart.

The heart has four rooms or if you prefer chambers, they are right atrium, right ventricle, left atrium
and left ventricle.

The heart is often compared to a pump; however, the heart has two pumps that are working together at
the exact same time. If you noticed the rooms are divided into right and left sides, this is because one
pump is located on each side. The right side oversees getting oxygen poor blood known as deoxygenated
blood and the left side oversees getting oxygen rich blood known as oxygenated blood and sending it
out towards the body. When the heart contract blood is pushed into the next room, if at any time the
heart does not contract the blood would not be pumps to the next room and it wouldn’t be pumped
into your body meaning no oxygen is being delivered.

Blood flow

Deoxygenated blood flows from the venous/veins. The deoxygenated blood flows back to the heart it is
traveling through the Superior vena cava or the Inferior vena cava. All blood is returned to the heart via
the inferior/superior vena cava. If the blood is flowing from the head/arms to the heart the blood will be
traveling through the superior vena cava and if the blood is flowing from the abdomen/legs to the heart
it will be traveling through the inferior vena cava. In the inferior/superior vena cava the blood only flows
one way, this prevents the blood from backing up through the vessel.

Once the blood pass through the vena cava it will enter the right atrium than pass through the right
atrioventricular (AV) valve also called Tricuspid valve, continuing the journey to the right ventricle. Once
contraction happens blood is pushed through the pulmonary semilunar valve also called the pulmonary
valve leading to the pulmonary trunk heading toward the left/right pulmonary arteries.

The pulmonary arteries lead the blood towards the lungs where gas is exchanged. Blood will exchange
the carbon dioxide (CO2) and in return will receive oxygen (O).

Once blood receive the oxygen it will return through the left/right pulmonary veins journeying to the left
atrium passing through the left atrioventricular valve also called the Bicuspid or mitral valve, continuing
the journey to the left ventricle. The journey is almost over for the blood to return the body. After the
blood has entered the left ventricle it will pass through the aortic semilunar valve and then into the
aorta where then blood goes through the arteries that go out towards the body where the blood gives
the oxygen and nutrient that it has received in the lungs to the surrounding tissue. Once exchanged the
blood will head back to the veins where it will once again flow back to the inferior/superior vena cava to
start the process all over again.

Pathology

The heart has many types of cardiovascular disease however the most common is Coronary heart
disease also called CAD. “About 18.2 million adults age 20 and older have CAD, killing 365,914 people in
2017”- CDC: heart disease

Anyone at any age can have cardiovascular disease some people do catch it and some don’t until its to
late.

What is coronary artery disease? It’s when the arteries specifically the coronary arteries that are supply
the heart with blood are becoming hard and narrow with plaque. This is “usually caused by
Atherosclerosis (sometimes called hardening or clogging of the arteries) is the buildup of cholesterol and
fatty deposits, plaque”- Cleveland clinic: coronary artery disease

Risk factors for coronary artery disease:

There are many factor these include family history, age, weight, diet, etc.

The treatment for CADs there are a few. If caught early just by changing you life style, eating habits not
to much fast food and by exercising as well can help. If it can not be treated by just changing your life
style there are drugs that you can take example of some would be aspirin and beta blockers. Beta
blockers are drugs that “slow your heart rate and decrease the blood pressure, by doing this the hearts
demand for oxygen decreased”- mayo clinic: coronary artery disease If medication does not work or is not
an option there are also heart procedures that will help restore blood flow.
Work cited

- https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm
- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16898-coronary-artery-disease
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronary-artery-disease/diagnosis-
treatment/drc-20350619

Image references

- Human anatomy – McKinley, O’Loughlin, Pennefather-O’Brien, 5e:

Figure 22.5 External Anatomy and Features of the Heart. Page 655-656
- Human anatomy – McKinley, O’Loughlin, Pennefather-O’Brien, 5e:
Figure 22.6 Internal Anatomy of the Heart. Page 657
- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/17057-your-heart--blood-vessels
- https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/bluelink/curricula/first-year-medical-
curriculum/sequence-2-cardiology/heart/bluelink?authuser=0
-