7/15/2021 Heart Anatomy: Heart Dissection

Anatomy of the Heart

The pictures below are from dissections of fresh pig
hearts.  Hopefully these will allow you to appreciate the
nature of the tissues in
the heart much more effectively than you
ever could by just looking at a model. 

Recommended Reading
Read pages 440-446 in Silverthorn, focussing on figure 14.5.

External Features of the Heart

The heart is contained within a thin

membranous sac, the pericardium.
The small picture at right shows
a bit of the cut pericardium on
the posterior surface of the heart.  Optional:  To
get
a sense of the
relationship of the heart and the pericardium in
the body, you can look at Video 5.1.9 from Acland's
Video Atlas of Anatomy (the link opens in a new tab).

The picture below shows an anterior view of the heart with the
pericardium removed.  The letters indicated in the text refer
to the
labels on the picture.

The
anterior surface of the heart is characterized by the presence of
the large arteries leaving the base of the heart, the pulmonary trunk
(H) and the aorta (G).  The pulmonary
trunk is the vessel that divides
to give rise to the two pulmonary
arteries going to each lung.  The
pulmonary trunk is somewhat
anterior to the aorta, and although it is
connected to the right
ventricle, it tilts leftward.  The aorta is slightly
posterior to the pulmonary trunk and bound to it by connective
tissue. 
Note that when you look at the anterior surface of
the heart (or at
anatomical illustrations of the heart in books or
on the internet) the
right side of the heart will be on your left,
and the left side of the heart
will be on your right.

The inferior part of the heart is called the apex (A) because it comes
to a
point, like the apex of a cone. The superior part of the heart is
referred to as the base (B).
The major vessels of the heart are found
at the base of the heart,
along with the upper chambers, the right
atrium (C) and left
atrium (D). The atria are collapsed, but in a
functioning heart, they would be stretched full of blood. 

The majority of the heart tissue consists of the

ventricles.  The left
ventricle
(F) is stiff and solid because it is very thick-walled.  By
contrast, the right ventricle
(E) has thinner walls, and would collapse
a little if you poked
it.

Internal Features of the Heart

The figure at
right shows a sectioned heart where you can see the internal
structures of the heart.  The left and right ventricles are
separated by the large interventricular
septum (A).  Note the relative thickness of
the walls of the right ventricle (B) and left
ventricle (C). The inner surface of the
heart is covered with irregular bands of tissue known as
trabeculae carneae.  The papillary
muscles (D; red arrows) are distinct
little hills of muscle that poke up from the inner surface of the
heart.  At the tips of the papillary
muscles are the chordae tendineae (E;
yellow
arrows), strings of connective tissue that
attach to the edges of the atrioventricular
valves (AV valves).
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7/15/2021 Heart Anatomy: Heart Dissection

The heart contains four important valves that ensure that

blood flows in one direction.  The right
AV valve (tricuspid valve)
and the
left AV valve (mitral valve) lie between the atria
and ventricles, and prevent blood from flowing back into the atria
when the
ventricles contract (systole).  The pulmonary valve and the aortic valve lie at the beginning
of the large outflow vessels at the base
of the heart, and prevent
blood from falling back into the heart when the ventricles are
relaxed (diastole).

The valves consist of two

or three cusps (also called leaflets) of delicate connective
tissue that come together to block the flow of blood.  The
valves in the vessels (called the
semilunar valves) each have
three valve cusps that look like little pockets or like half-
moons
(hence the name "semilunar").  The valve cusps of the AV
valves look like torn
curtains, and are easily identified because
they have the chordae tendineae attached to
them.  All four
heart valves are located at the same plane in the heart and are
attached to
a fibrous layer of connective tissue called the cardiac
skeleton. This is shown in the
illustration of the
transverse section of the heart, Figure 14.7b on p. 444.  The
image at
right shows the same heart as the one above, with a pin
through one of the cusps of the
pulmonary valve and the left AV
valve labeled "L-AV".

The image below shows a different heart that is dissected to show

the aortic valve.  An unlabeled photo on the left allows you
to fully
see the structures.  PV:  pulmonary
valve.  PM:  papillary muscle.  L-AV:  left AV
valve (mitral valve).  S:  interventricular
septum. 
Although not labeled, on these figures you should
also be able to identify the chordae tendineae and the left
atrium.

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 7/15/2021 Heart Anatomy: Heart Dissection

Video 5.1.6 ("Ventricles: outflow pathways") is particularly

useful for showing the structure and action of the valves. The
action of the
valves is shown by pumping water through the heart.
When they are open, the valve cusps fall back against the tissue
walls. When
the valves close, the edges of the cusps come
together. When viewed from the top, the three cusps of a closed
semilunar valve look
like the Mercedes Benz logo.

What to identify in video 5.1.6 (opens in a new

tab):

ascending aorta
aortic valve

pulmonary trunk
pulmonary valve

pulmonary artery

AV valve

chordae
tendineae
papillary muscle

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