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There are four valves of the heart:
Heart valves open and shut depending on the difference in pressure on each side. The sound of the heart valves shutting causes the heart sounds.
These are large, multicusped valves that prevent backflow from the ventricles into the atria during systole. They are anchored to the wall of the ventricle by chordae tendinae , that prevent the valve from inverting.
The chordae tendinae are attached to papillary muscles that cause tension to better hold the valve. Together, the papillary muscles and the chordae tendinae are known as the subvalvular apparatus. The function of the subvalvular apparatus is to keep the valves from prolapsing into the atria when they close. The subvalvular apparatus have no effect on the opening and closure of the valves, however. This is caused entirely by the pressure gradient across the valve.
Also known as the bicuspid valve, the mitral valve gets its name from the resemblance to a bishop's mitre (a type of hat). It prevents blood flowing from the left ventricle into the left atrium. As it is on the left side of the heart, in must cope with a lot of strain and pressure, this is while it is made of only two cusps, as there is less to go wrong.
A common complication of rheumatic fever is thickening and stenosis of the mitral valve.
The tricuspid valve is on the right side of the heart, between the right atrium and the right ventricle. Being the first valve after the venae cavae, and thus the whole venous system, it is the most common valve to be infected ( endocarditis) in IV drug users.
These are positioned on the pulmonary arteryThe pulmonary arteries carry blood from the heart to the lungs. They are the only arteries (other than umbilical arteries in the fetus) that carry deoxygenated blood. In the human heart, the pulmonary trunk begins at the base of the right ventricle. It is and the aortaAORTA can also mean "always-on real-time access", referring to WAN computer networks. The largest artery in the human body, the aorta originates from the left ventricle of the heart and brings oxygenated blood to all parts of the body in the systemic circ. These valves to not have chordae tendinae, but are more similar to valves in veins.
The aortic valve lies between the left ventricle and the aortaAORTA can also mean "always-on real-time access", referring to WAN computer networks. The largest artery in the human body, the aorta originates from the left ventricle of the heart and brings oxygenated blood to all parts of the body in the systemic circ. The aortic valve has three cusps. During ventricular systole, pressure rises in the left ventricle. When the pressure in the left ventricle rises above the pressure in the aorta, the aortic valve opens, allowing blood to exit the left ventricle into the aorta. When ventricular systole ends, pressure in the left ventricle rapidly drops. When the pressure in the left ventricle decreases, the aortic pressure forces the aortic valve to close. The closure of the aortic valve contributes the A2 component of the second heart sound (S2).
The most common congenital abnormality of the heart is the bicuspid aortic valve. In this condition, instead of three cusps, the aortic valve has two cusps. This condition is often undiagnosed until the person develops calcific aortic stenosis. Aortic stenosis occurs in this condition usually in patients in their 40s or 50s, an average of 10 years earlier than in people with normal aortic valves.