2.1. The left ventricle and interventricular septum
The heart has two inferior chambers, called the right and left ventricles, respectively. These chambers are the “pumps” that expel blood into the blood vessels and keeps it flowing through the body (Rizzo, 2016). The left ventricle is a cavity that has thick muscular walls that contains the papillary muscles as well as the chordae tendinae that attaches the atrio-ventricular valve leaflets to the papillary muscles (Leeson, Augustine, Mitchell & Becher, 2012).
The left ventricle is responsible for pumping blood through the entire body, while the right ventricle only has to pump blood to the nearby lungs and back. Therefore, because the left ventricle bears a much larger workload than the …show more content…
According to Katritsis, Gersh & Camm (2013), it consists of two layers: The visceral pericardium (also called the epicardium) is a serous layer that lies closer to the heart and proximal great vessels, and the parietal pericardium, which is formed by the outer fibrous sac and is a continuation of the visceral pericardium where it turns inward at the base of the heart (Figure 1).
Between the two membranes of the pericardium is a space that contains about 5 to 30 millilitres of pericardial fluid. This space is called the pericardial cavity and the fluid within it lubricates the visceral and parietal membranes, allowing the heart to beat with minimal friction (Rizzo, 2016).
The pericardium encloses both the left and right ventricles, thereby effectively linking them (Bluzait et al., 2012). The closed pericardium covers approximately two thirds of the left ventricle, mainly the free wall, while the other third of the left ventricle is constrained by right ventricular pressure (Shier et al., 2015). The main function of the pericardium is to restrain the heart by limiting the ventricular dilation and equalizing the compliance between the right and left ventricles (Katritsis et al., 2013). This means that the pericardium allows the heart room to expand, but will resist excessive expansion during ventricular filling (Rizzo,
The heart has two inferior chambers, called the right and left ventricles, respectively. These chambers are the “pumps” that expel blood into the blood vessels and keeps it flowing through the body (Rizzo, 2016). The left ventricle is a cavity that has thick muscular walls that contains the papillary muscles as well as the chordae tendinae that attaches the atrio-ventricular valve leaflets to the papillary muscles (Leeson, Augustine, Mitchell & Becher, 2012).
The left ventricle is responsible for pumping blood through the entire body, while the right ventricle only has to pump blood to the nearby lungs and back. Therefore, because the left ventricle bears a much larger workload than the …show more content…
According to Katritsis, Gersh & Camm (2013), it consists of two layers: The visceral pericardium (also called the epicardium) is a serous layer that lies closer to the heart and proximal great vessels, and the parietal pericardium, which is formed by the outer fibrous sac and is a continuation of the visceral pericardium where it turns inward at the base of the heart (Figure 1).
Between the two membranes of the pericardium is a space that contains about 5 to 30 millilitres of pericardial fluid. This space is called the pericardial cavity and the fluid within it lubricates the visceral and parietal membranes, allowing the heart to beat with minimal friction (Rizzo, 2016).
The pericardium encloses both the left and right ventricles, thereby effectively linking them (Bluzait et al., 2012). The closed pericardium covers approximately two thirds of the left ventricle, mainly the free wall, while the other third of the left ventricle is constrained by right ventricular pressure (Shier et al., 2015). The main function of the pericardium is to restrain the heart by limiting the ventricular dilation and equalizing the compliance between the right and left ventricles (Katritsis et al., 2013). This means that the pericardium allows the heart room to expand, but will resist excessive expansion during ventricular filling (Rizzo,