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Purpose of Valves & Blood Vessels in the Heart

The heart is a powerful muscle that acts as a pump to circulate your blood. It has four chambers, each with valves to keep the blood flowing in the right direction: one to let blood in and one to let blood out. Your heart works hard, beating about 100,000 times a day. To do this, it requires a steady supply of oxygen and nutrition from blood vessels known as the coronary arteries.

  1. Anatomy

    • Your heart has four chambers. The top chambers are the right and left atria; the larger, bottom chambers are the right and left ventricles. Blood enters the heart through the right atrium, which pumps it into the the right ventricle, which then pumps it out to the lungs to get oxygen. The blood returns to the heart to the left atrium, which pumps it into the left ventricle, which pumps it out to the body.

    Valve Function

    • The four valves give the heart the ability to act as a pump. Each ventricle has a valve at the entry and exit portals. The atrium pumps blood into the ventricle. The valve closes, and then the ventricle contracts, or pumps, and the exit valve opens to allow blood to flow out of the heart and into a blood vessel. The atria pump first, then the ventricles, giving your heart its rhythmic beat.

    Valve Types

    • The tricuspid valve connects the right atrium to the right ventricle. The pulmonic valve, which is in the right ventricle, opens to allow blood to pump through the pulmonary artery to the lungs. Blood flows back from the lungs into the left atrium; the mitral valve opens to let blood into the left ventricle. Once full, the mitral valve closes, the aortic valve opens, and the left ventricle pumps blood to the body.

    Coronary Arteries

    • The heart not only pumps blood out---it needs to receive blood. The coronary arteries supply blood to the heart muscle. They begin at the aorta and wrap around the heart in branches. The right coronary artery serves the right side and bottom of the heart; the left coronary artery serves the front and bottom of the heart by way of the left anterior descending artery, and the left ventricle by way of the circumflex artery.

    Blood Vessels

    • Main blood vessels carry blood to and from the heart. The superior vena cava transports blood from the body to the heart. The pulmonary arteries carry blood from the heart to the lungs and back. The aorta, the largest blood vessel, carries the blood from the heart to the rest of the body.

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