Trace the pathway of bloodflow through the heart - Essay Example

The Circulatory System Order No: 215704 No: of pages: 2 Premium 6530 The heart is a muscle that pumps the blood to all the different parts ofthe body. The main work of the heart is to receive the deoxygenated blood from all the parts of the body, purify it and then send it once again to all the different parts of the body. Life stops when the heart stops pumping the blood, therefore it is inevitable that we have to see that our heart is in perfect condition. We are now going to trace the blood to and from the heart.

The blood starts its passage from the right atrium that has two major veins - the Superior vena cava that gets the deoxygenated blood from the upper parts of the body such as the head and arms, and the other the Inferior vena cava that receives deoxygenated blood from the lower parts of the body such as the torso and the legs. The blood entering the right ventricle of heart through the tricuspid valve from these two major veins are filled with carbon – dioxide.From the right ventricle, the deoxygenated blood is carried through the pulmonic valve to the pulmonary artery into the lungs.

Here the blood is cleansed by the removal of carbon – dioxide and the addition of oxygen and once again returns through the pulmonary veins and empties itself into the left atrium.The left atrium is the chamber that receives the oxygenated blood from the lungs through the pulmonary veins. Between the left atrium and the left ventricle is a valve called the bicuspid valve – also called the mitral valve, which regulates the blood flow into the left ventricle. Both the bicuspid valve and the tricuspid valve also called the atrio-ventricular (AV) valves simultaneously open and close producing a Lub – Dub sound, which is the heartbeat of a person.

The Lub sound is the opening of the valves and the Dub sound is the closing of the valves.The fourth chamber is the largest and most important of all the four chambers, the left ventricle is the strongest pump which helps to discharge blood into the aorta through a valve called the aortic valve. Both the pulmonary and the aortic valve operate or work simultaneously with each other. The aorta then takes the oxygen – rich blood and passes it to all the different parts of the body.In the same way, the bicuspid and tricuspid valves also open up simultaneously allowing blood to flow into the ventricles.

When this happens, they contract and eject blood into the lungs and the body. In the meantime, the atria relax and once again fill with blood.The whole process of the heart circulating blood throughout the body takes place about thousand times everyday. The heart has the job of pumping about 5000 to 6000 quarts of blood every single day.References:Habits of the Heart.www.smm.org/heart/lessons/lesson6.htmHeartPoint: The Heart www.heartpoint.com/theheart.html