How does blood flow through the heart?

Question

The heart provides your body access to an incredible amount of oxygen every second, but how does it do it?

Answer 1

Great question my friend!

The heart has four chambers --> right atrium, right ventricle, left atrium, and left ventricle. Right sided chambers deal with deoxygenated/venous blood, while the left sided chambers deal with oxygenated/arterial blood.

1. Blood first flows into the right atrium from the superior vena cava (drains head, arms, and upper torso) and inferior vena cava (drains lower body).
2. Blood then moves from right atrium to right ventricle through the tricuspid valve, which separates both chambers.
3. The right ventricle then pumps that blood through the pulmonary artery, which delivers deoxygenated blood the lungs, where it's readily oxygenated.
4. The now oxygenated blood travels through the pulmonary veins and delivers oxygen rich blood to the left atrium.
5. Blood then moves from the left atrium to the left ventricle through the mitral valve, which separates both chambers.
6. The left ventricle, the strongest and most muscular chamber of the heart, pumps oxygen rich blood to the whole body through the aorta, the largest artery in the body.

Always down to chat more about the heart! Let me know how else I can help.

Answer 2