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Cardiac Muscle: Myogenic

The human heart is about the size of a fist and weighs around 300g. It is made of cardiac muscle separated into four chambers - two upper atria and two lower ventricles. The thicker walled left ventricle pumps oxygenated blood through the aorta and its branches to the body, while the right ventricle pumps deoxygenated blood through the pulmonary artery to the lungs. Blood flows through one-way valves between the chambers to ensure it flows in only one direction through the heart and circulatory system. The heart muscle contracts autonomously to pump blood continuously through the pulmonary and systemic circuits, supplying the tissues of the body with oxygen and nutrients.

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23 views

Cardiac Muscle: Myogenic

The human heart is about the size of a fist and weighs around 300g. It is made of cardiac muscle separated into four chambers - two upper atria and two lower ventricles. The thicker walled left ventricle pumps oxygenated blood through the aorta and its branches to the body, while the right ventricle pumps deoxygenated blood through the pulmonary artery to the lungs. Blood flows through one-way valves between the chambers to ensure it flows in only one direction through the heart and circulatory system. The heart muscle contracts autonomously to pump blood continuously through the pulmonary and systemic circuits, supplying the tissues of the body with oxygen and nutrients.

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© © All Rights Reserved
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Heart Structure

An adult human heart is about the size of your fist and is about 300g. It is a bag made of muscle
filled with blood.
The heart is made of cardiac muscle.
- Cardiac muscle is myogenic, meaning it naturally contracts and relaxes instead of receiving
impulses from nerves to make it contract.
- It is made of interconnected cells whose cell surface membranes are very tightly joined
together by intercalated discs so that waves of electrical excitation can pass easily between
them.
Various
blood vessels lead from the heart into the pulmonary and systemic circulation.

- The aorta, the largest artery, has smaller branches which lead towards the head.
- The pulmonary artery branches into two arteries: one leading to the left lung and one leading
to the right lung.
- One of the venae cavae brings blood from the head and the other brings blood from the body.
The coronary arteries deliver oxygenated blood to the walls of the heart itself.
- They branch from the aorta.
The heart is separated into four chambers.
- The left and right side are separated by a wall of muscle called the septum through which
blood cannot pass.
- The upper chambers which receive blood are atria (singular: atrium / auricle).
- The walls of the ventricles are thicker than that of the atria because they need to generate a
higher pressure to push the blood along a larger distance. For the same reason, the left
ventricle has a thicker wall than the right.
If the pressure in the pulmonary circulation were too high, tissue fluid would accumulate in
the lungs, hampering gas exchange.
The high pressures which can be produced by the ventricles would usually be to high for
most organs but the arterioles act to lower this pressure.
During vigorous exercise, arterioles dilate allowing more blood through them. In this case,
the heart must work to make sure enough blood reaches the other organs (especially the
brain). Kidneys also require high pressures all the time for ultrafiltration.
Between the atria and ventricles there are atrioventricular valves (AV valves) which prevent the
back flow of blood from the ventricles to the atria.
- The left one is called the bicuspid or mitral valve and the right one is called the tricuspid valve.
- When the pressure of the blood in the ventricle is higher than that in the atrium and blood
pushes up against the cusps of the valves, they shut.

The papillary muscles, attached to the valves by tendons (chordae tendonaea), prevent the
AV valves from being forced inside out.

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