The human heart
|Artery||Aorta,[a] puwmonary trunk and right and weft puwmonary arteries,[b] right coronary artery, weft main coronary artery[c]|
|Vein||Superior vena cava, inferior vena cava,[d] right and weft puwmonary veins,[e] great cardiac vein, middwe cardiac vein, smaww cardiac vein, anterior cardiac veins[f]|
|Nerve||Accewerans nerve, vagus nerve|
Probwems pwaying dis fiwe? See media hewp.
The heart is a muscuwar organ in most animaws, which pumps bwood drough de bwood vessews of de circuwatory system. Bwood provides de body wif oxygen and nutrients, as weww as assists in de removaw of metabowic wastes. In humans, de heart is wocated between de wungs, in de middwe compartment of de chest.
In humans, oder mammaws, and birds, de heart is divided into four chambers: upper weft and right atria; and wower weft and right ventricwes. Commonwy de right atrium and ventricwe are referred togeder as de right heart and deir weft counterparts as de weft heart. Fish, in contrast, have two chambers, an atrium and a ventricwe, whiwe reptiwes have dree chambers. In a heawdy heart bwood fwows one way drough de heart due to heart vawves, which prevent backfwow. The heart is encwosed in a protective sac, de pericardium, which awso contains a smaww amount of fwuid. The waww of de heart is made up of dree wayers: epicardium, myocardium, and endocardium.
The heart pumps bwood wif a rhydm determined by a group of pacemaking cewws in de sinoatriaw node. These generate a current dat causes contraction of de heart, travewing drough de atrioventricuwar node and awong de conduction system of de heart. The heart receives bwood wow in oxygen from de systemic circuwation, which enters de right atrium from de superior and inferior venae cavae and passes to de right ventricwe. From here it is pumped into de puwmonary circuwation, drough de wungs where it receives oxygen and gives off carbon dioxide. Oxygenated bwood den returns to de weft atrium, passes drough de weft ventricwe and is pumped out drough de aorta to de systemic circuwation−where de oxygen is used and metabowized to carbon dioxide. The heart beats at a resting rate cwose to 72 beats per minute. Exercise temporariwy increases de rate, but wowers resting heart rate in de wong term, and is good for heart heawf.
Cardiovascuwar diseases (CVD) are de most common cause of deaf gwobawwy as of 2008, accounting for 30% of deads. Of dese more dan dree qwarters are a resuwt of coronary artery disease and stroke. Risk factors incwude: smoking, being overweight, wittwe exercise, high chowesterow, high bwood pressure, and poorwy controwwed diabetes, among oders. Cardiovascuwar diseases freqwentwy do not have symptoms or may cause chest pain or shortness of breaf. Diagnosis of heart disease is often done by de taking of a medicaw history, wistening to de heart-sounds wif a stedoscope, ECG, and uwtrasound. Speciawists who focus on diseases of de heart are cawwed cardiowogists, awdough many speciawties of medicine may be invowved in treatment.
- 1 Structure
- 2 Devewopment
- 3 Physiowogy
- 4 Cwinicaw significance
- 4.1 Diseases
- 4.2 Diagnosis
- 4.3 Treatment
- 5 History
- 6 Society and cuwture
- 7 Oder animaws
- 8 Additionaw images
- 9 Notes
- 10 References
- 11 Bibwiography
- 12 Externaw winks
Location and shape
The human heart is situated in de middwe mediastinum, at de wevew of doracic vertebrae T5-T8. A doubwe-membraned sac cawwed de pericardium surrounds de heart and attaches to de mediastinum. The back surface of de heart wies near de vertebraw cowumn, and de front surface sits behind de sternum and rib cartiwages. The upper part of de heart is de attachment point for severaw warge bwood vessews – de venae cavae, aorta and puwmonary trunk. The upper part of de heart is wocated at de wevew of de dird costaw cartiwage. The wower tip of de heart, de apex, wies to de weft of de sternum (8 to 9 cm from de midsternaw wine) between de junction of de fourf and fiff ribs near deir articuwation wif de costaw cartiwages.
The wargest part of de heart is usuawwy swightwy offset to de weft side of de chest (dough occasionawwy it may be offset to de right) and is fewt to be on de weft because de weft heart is stronger and warger, since it pumps to aww body parts. Because de heart is between de wungs, de weft wung is smawwer dan de right wung and has a cardiac notch in its border to accommodate de heart. The heart is cone-shaped, wif its base positioned upwards and tapering down to de apex. An aduwt heart has a mass of 250–350 grams (9–12 oz). The heart is often described as de size of a fist: 12 cm (5 in) in wengf, 8 cm (3.5 in) wide, and 6 cm (2.5 in) in dickness, awdough dis description is disputed, as de heart is wikewy to be swightwy warger. Weww-trained adwetes can have much warger hearts due to de effects of exercise on de heart muscwe, simiwar to de response of skewetaw muscwe.
The heart has four chambers, two upper atria, de receiving chambers, and two wower ventricwes, de discharging chambers. The atria open into de ventricwes via de atrioventricuwar vawves, present in de atrioventricuwar septum. This distinction is visibwe awso on de surface of de heart as de coronary suwcus. There is an ear-shaped structure in de upper right atrium cawwed de right atriaw appendage, or auricwe, and anoder in de upper weft atrium, de weft atriaw appendage. The right atrium and de right ventricwe togeder are sometimes referred to as de right heart. Simiwarwy, de weft atrium and de weft ventricwe togeder are sometimes referred to as de weft heart. The ventricwes are separated from each oder by de interventricuwar septum, visibwe on de surface of de heart as de anterior wongitudinaw suwcus and de posterior interventricuwar suwcus.
The cardiac skeweton is made of dense connective tissue and dis gives structure to de heart. It forms de atrioventricuwar septum which separates de atria from de ventricwes, and de fibrous rings which serve as bases for de four heart vawves. The cardiac skeweton awso provides an important boundary in de heart's ewectricaw conduction system since cowwagen cannot conduct ewectricity. The interatriaw septum separates de atria and de interventricuwar septum separates de ventricwes. The interventricuwar septum is much dicker dan de interatriaw septum, since de ventricwes need to generate greater pressure when dey contract.
The heart has four vawves, which separate its chambers. One vawve wies between each atrium and ventricwe, and one vawve rests at de exit of each ventricwe.
The vawves between de atria and ventricwes are cawwed de atrioventricuwar vawves. Between de right atrium and de right ventricwe is de tricuspid vawve. The tricuspid vawve has dree cusps, which connect to chordae tendinae and dree papiwwary muscwes named de anterior, posterior, and septaw muscwes, after deir rewative positions. The mitraw vawve wies between de weft atrium and weft ventricwe. It is awso known as de bicuspid vawve due to its having two cusps, an anterior and a posterior cusp. These cusps are awso attached via chordae tendinae to two papiwwary muscwes projecting from de ventricuwar waww.
The papiwwary muscwes extend from de wawws of de heart to vawves by cartiwaginous connections cawwed chordae tendinae. These muscwes prevent de vawves from fawwing too far back when dey cwose. During de rewaxation phase of de cardiac cycwe, de papiwwary muscwes are awso rewaxed and de tension on de chordae tendineae is swight. As de heart chambers contract, so do de papiwwary muscwes. This creates tension on de chordae tendineae, hewping to howd de cusps of de atrioventricuwar vawves in pwace and preventing dem from being bwown back into de atria. [g]
Two additionaw semiwunar vawves sit at de exit of each of de ventricwes. The puwmonary vawve is wocated at de base of de puwmonary artery. This has dree cusps which are not attached to any papiwwary muscwes. When de ventricwe rewaxes bwood fwows back into de ventricwe from de artery and dis fwow of bwood fiwws de pocket-wike vawve, pressing against de cusps which cwose to seaw de vawve. The semiwunar aortic vawve is at de base of de aorta and awso is not attached to papiwwary muscwes. This too has dree cusps which cwose wif de pressure of de bwood fwowing back from de aorta.
The right atrium receives bwood awmost continuouswy from de body's two major veins, de superior and inferior venae cavae. A smaww amount of bwood from de coronary circuwation awso drains into de right atrium via de coronary sinus, which is immediatewy above and to de middwe of de opening of de inferior vena cava. In de waww of de right atrium is an ovaw-shaped depression known as de fossa ovawis, which is a remnant of an opening in de fetaw heart known as de foramen ovawe. Most of de internaw surface of de right atrium is smoof, de depression of de fossa ovawis is mediaw, and de anterior surface has prominent ridges of pectinate muscwes, which are awso present in de right atriaw appendage.
The right atrium is connected to de right ventricwe by de tricuspid vawve. The wawws of de right ventricwe are wined wif trabecuwae carneae, ridges of cardiac muscwe covered by endocardium. In addition to dese muscuwar ridges, a band of cardiac muscwe, awso covered by endocardium, known as de moderator band reinforces de din wawws of de right ventricwe and pways a cruciaw rowe in cardiac conduction, uh-hah-hah-hah. It arises from de wower part of de interventricuwar septum and crosses de interior space of de right ventricwe to connect wif de inferior papiwwary muscwe. The right ventricwe tapers into de puwmonary trunk, into which it ejects bwood when contracting. The puwmonary trunk branches into de weft and right puwmonary arteries dat carry de bwood to each wung. The puwmonary vawve wies between de right heart and de puwmonary trunk.
The weft atrium receives oxygenated bwood back from de wungs via one of de four puwmonary veins. The weft atrium has an outpouching cawwed de weft atriaw appendage. Like de right atrium, de weft atrium is wined by pectinate muscwes. The weft atrium is connected to de weft ventricwe by de mitraw vawve.
The weft ventricwe is much dicker as compared wif de right, due to de greater force needed to pump bwood to de entire body. Like de right ventricwe, de weft awso has trabecuwae carneae, but dere is no moderator band. The weft ventricwe pumps bwood to de body drough de aortic vawve and into de aorta. Two smaww openings above de aortic vawve carry bwood to de heart itsewf, de weft main coronary artery and de right coronary artery.
The innermost wayer of de heart is cawwed de endocardium. It is made up of a wining of simpwe sqwamous epidewium, and covers heart chambers and vawves. It is continuous wif de endodewium of de veins and arteries of de heart, and is joined to de myocardium wif a din wayer of connective tissue. The endocardium, by secreting endodewins, may awso pway a rowe in reguwating de contraction of de myocardium.
The middwe wayer of de heart waww is de myocardium, which is de cardiac muscwe – a wayer of invowuntary striated muscwe tissue surrounded by a framework of cowwagen. The cardiac muscwe pattern is ewegant and compwex, as de muscwe cewws swirw and spiraw around de chambers of de heart, wif de outer muscwes forming a figure 8 pattern around de atria and around de bases of de great vessews and de inner muscwes forming a figure 8 around de two ventricwes and proceeding toward de apex. This compwex swirwing pattern awwows de heart to pump bwood more effectivewy.
There are two types of cewws in cardiac muscwe: muscwe cewws which have de abiwity to contract easiwy, and pacemaker cewws of de conducting system. The muscwe cewws make up de buwk (99%) of cewws in de atria and ventricwes. These contractiwe cewws are connected by intercawated discs which awwow a rapid response to impuwses of action potentiaw from de pacemaker cewws. The intercawated discs awwow de cewws to act as a syncytium and enabwe de contractions dat pump bwood drough de heart and into de major arteries. The pacemaker cewws make up 1% of cewws and form de conduction system of de heart. They are generawwy much smawwer dan de contractiwe cewws and have few myofibriws which gives dem wimited contractibiwity. Their function is simiwar in many respects to neurons. Cardiac muscwe tissue has autorhydmicity, de uniqwe abiwity to initiate a cardiac action potentiaw at a fixed rate – spreading de impuwse rapidwy from ceww to ceww to trigger de contraction of de entire heart.
There are specific proteins expressed in cardiac muscwe cewws. These are mostwy associated wif muscwe contraction, and bind wif actin, myosin, tropomyosin, and troponin. They incwude MYH6, ACTC1, TNNI3, CDH2 and PKP2. Oder proteins expressed are MYH7 and LDB3 dat are awso expressed in skewetaw muscwe.
The pericardium is de sack dat surrounds de heart. The tough outer surface of de pericardium is cawwed de fibrous membrane. This is wined by a doubwe inner membrane cawwed de serous membrane dat produces pericardiaw fwuid to wubricate de surface of de heart. The part of de serous membrane attached to de fibrous membrane is cawwed de parietaw pericardium, whiwe de part of de serous membrane attached to de heart is known as de visceraw pericardium. The pericardium is present in order to wubricate its movement against oder structures widin de chest, to keep de heart's position stabiwised widin de chest, and to protect de heart from infection, uh-hah-hah-hah.
Heart tissue, wike aww cewws in de body, needs to be suppwied wif oxygen, nutrients and a way of removing metabowic wastes. This is achieved by de coronary circuwation, which incwudes arteries, veins, and wymphatic vessews. Bwood fwow drough de coronary vessews occurs in peaks and troughs rewating to de heart muscwe's rewaxation or contraction, uh-hah-hah-hah.
Heart tissue receives bwood from two arteries which arise just above de aortic vawve. These are de weft main coronary artery and de right coronary artery. The weft main coronary artery spwits shortwy after weaving de aorta into two vessews, de weft anterior descending and de weft circumfwex artery. The weft anterior descending artery suppwies heart tissue and de front, outer side, and de septum of de weft ventricwe. It does dis by branching into smawwer arteries – diagonaw and septaw branches. The weft circumfwex suppwies de back and underneaf of de weft ventricwe. The right coronary artery suppwies de right atrium, right ventricwe, and wower posterior sections of de weft ventricwe. The right coronary artery awso suppwies bwood to de atrioventricuwar node (in about 90% of peopwe) and de sinoatriaw node (in about 60% of peopwe). The right coronary artery runs in a groove at de back of de heart and de weft anterior descending artery runs in a groove at de front. There is significant variation between peopwe in de anatomy of de arteries dat suppwy de heart  The arteries divide at deir furderst reaches into smawwer branches dat join togeder at de edges of each arteriaw distribution, uh-hah-hah-hah.
The coronary sinus is a warge vein dat drains into de right atrium, and receives most of de venous drainage of de heart. It receives bwood from de great cardiac vein (receiving de weft atrium and bof ventricwes), de posterior cardiac vein (draining de back of de weft ventricwe), de middwe cardiac vein (draining de bottom of de weft and right ventricwes), and smaww cardiac veins. The anterior cardiac veins drain de front of de right ventricwe and drain directwy into de right atrium.
Smaww wymphatic networks cawwed pwexuses exist beneaf each of de dree wayers of de heart. These networks cowwect into a main weft and a main right trunk, which travew up de groove between de ventricwes dat exists on de heart's surface, receiving smawwer vessews as dey travew up. These vessews den travew into de atrioventricuwar groove, and receive a dird vessew which drains de section of de weft ventricwe sitting on de diaphragm. The weft vessew joins wif dis dird vessew, and travews awong de puwmonary artery and weft atrium, ending in de inferior tracheobronchiaw node. The right vessew travews awong de right atrium and de part of de right ventricwe sitting on de diaphragm. It usuawwy den travews in front of de ascending aorta and den ends in a brachiocephawic node.
The heart receives nerve signaws from de vagus nerve and from nerves arising from de sympadetic trunk. These nerves act to infwuence, but not controw, de heart rate. Sympadetic nerves awso infwuence de force of heart contraction, uh-hah-hah-hah. Signaws dat travew awong dese nerves arise from two paired cardiovascuwar centres in de meduwwa obwongata. The vagus nerve of de parasympadetic nervous system acts to decrease de heart rate, and nerves from de sympadetic trunk act to increase de heart rate. These nerves form a network of nerves dat wies over de heart cawwed de cardiac pwexus.
The vagus nerve is a wong, wandering nerve dat emerges from de brainstem and provides parasympadetic stimuwation to a warge number of organs in de dorax and abdomen, incwuding de heart. The nerves from de sympadetic trunk emerge drough de T1-T4 doracic gangwia and travew to bof de sinoatriaw and atrioventricuwar nodes, as weww as to de atria and ventricwes. The ventricwes are more richwy innervated by sympadetic fibers dan parasympadetic fibers. Sympadetic stimuwation causes de rewease of de neurotransmitter norepinephrine (awso known as noradrenawine) at de neuromuscuwar junction of de cardiac nerves. This shortens de repowarization period, dus speeding de rate of depowarization and contraction, which resuwts in an increased heart rate. It opens chemicaw or wigand-gated sodium and cawcium ion channews, awwowing an infwux of positivewy charged ions. Norepinephrine binds to de beta–1 receptor.
The heart is de first functionaw organ to devewop and starts to beat and pump bwood at about dree weeks into embryogenesis. This earwy start is cruciaw for subseqwent embryonic and prenataw devewopment.
The heart derives from spwanchnopweuric mesenchyme in de neuraw pwate which forms de cardiogenic region, uh-hah-hah-hah. Two endocardiaw tubes form here dat fuse to form a primitive heart tube known as de tubuwar heart. Between de dird and fourf week, de heart tube wengdens, and begins to fowd to form an S-shape widin de pericardium. This pwaces de chambers and major vessews into de correct awignment for de devewoped heart. Furder devewopment wiww incwude de septa and vawves formation and remodewwing of de heart chambers. By de end of de fiff week de septa are compwete and de heart vawves are compweted by de ninf week.
Before de fiff week, dere is an opening in de fetaw heart known as de foramen ovawe. The foramen ovawe awwowed bwood in de fetaw heart to pass directwy from de right atrium to de weft atrium, awwowing some bwood to bypass de wungs. Widin seconds after birf, a fwap of tissue known as de septum primum dat previouswy acted as a vawve cwoses de foramen ovawe and estabwishes de typicaw cardiac circuwation pattern, uh-hah-hah-hah. A depression in de surface of de right atrium remains where de foramen ovawe once wawws, cawwed de fossa ovawis.
The embryonic heart begins beating at around 22 days after conception (5 weeks after de wast normaw menstruaw period, LMP). It starts to beat at a rate near to de moder's which is about 75–80 beats per minute (bpm). The embryonic heart rate den accewerates and reaches a peak rate of 165–185 bpm earwy in de earwy 7f week (earwy 9f week after de LMP). After 9 weeks (start of de fetaw stage) it starts to decewerate, swowing to around 145 (±25) bpm at birf. There is no difference in femawe and mawe heart rates before birf.
The heart functions as a pump in de circuwatory system to provide a continuous fwow of bwood droughout de body. This circuwation consists of de systemic circuwation to and from de body and de puwmonary circuwation to and from de wungs. Bwood in de puwmonary circuwation exchanges carbon dioxide for oxygen in de wungs drough de process of respiration. The systemic circuwation den transports oxygen to de body and returns carbon dioxide and rewativewy deoxygenated bwood to de heart for transfer to de wungs.
The right heart cowwects deoxygenated bwood from two warge veins, de superior and inferior venae cavae. Bwood cowwects in de right and weft atrium continuouswy. The superior vena cava drains bwood from above de diaphragm and empties into de upper back part of de right atrium. The inferior vena cava drains de bwood from bewow de diaphragm and empties into de back part of de atrium bewow de opening for de superior vena cava. Immediatewy above and to de middwe of de opening of de inferior vena cava is de opening of de din-wawwed coronary sinus. Additionawwy, de coronary sinus returns deoxygenated bwood from de myocardium to de right atrium. The bwood cowwects in de right atrium. When de right atrium contracts, de bwood is pumped drough de tricuspid vawve into de right ventricwe. As de right ventricwe contracts, de tricuspid vawve cwoses and de bwood is pumped into de puwmonary trunk drough de puwmonary vawve. The puwmonary trunk divides into puwmonary arteries and progressivewy smawwer arteries droughout de wungs, untiw it reaches capiwwaries. As dese pass by awveowi carbon dioxide is exchanged for oxygen, uh-hah-hah-hah. This happens drough de passive process of diffusion.
In de weft heart, oxygenated bwood is returned to de weft atrium via de puwmonary veins. It is den pumped into de weft ventricwe drough de mitraw vawve and into de aorta drough de aortic vawve for systemic circuwation, uh-hah-hah-hah. The aorta is a warge artery dat branches into many smawwer arteries, arteriowes, and uwtimatewy capiwwaries. In de capiwwaries, oxygen and nutrients from bwood are suppwied to body cewws for metabowism, and exchanged for carbon dioxide and waste products. Capiwwary bwood, now deoxygenated, travews into venuwes and veins dat uwtimatewy cowwect in de superior and inferior vena cavae, and into de right heart.
The cardiac cycwe refers to de seqwence of events in which de heart contracts and rewaxes wif every heartbeat. The period of time during which de ventricwes contract, forcing bwood out into de aorta and main puwmonary artery, is known as systowe, whiwe de period during which de ventricwes rewax and refiww wif bwood is known as diastowe. The atria and ventricwes work in concert, so in systowe when de ventricwes are contracting, de atria are rewaxed and cowwecting bwood. When de ventricwes are rewaxed in diastowe, de atria contract to pump bwood to de ventricwes. This coordination ensures bwood is pumped efficientwy to de body.
At de beginning of de cardiac cycwe, de ventricwes are rewaxing. As dey do so, dey are fiwwed by bwood passing drough de open mitraw and tricuspid vawves. After de ventricwes have compweted most of deir fiwwing, de atria contract, forcing furder bwood into de ventricwes and priming de pump. Next, de ventricwes start to contract. As de pressure rises widin de cavities of de ventricwes, de mitraw and tricuspid vawves are forced shut. As de pressure widin de ventricwes rises furder, exceeding de pressure wif de aorta and puwmonary arteries, de aortic and puwmonary vawves open, uh-hah-hah-hah. Bwood is ejected from de heart, causing de pressure widin de ventricwes to faww. Simuwtaneouswy, de atria refiww as bwood fwows into de right atrium drough de superior and inferior vena cavae, and into de weft atrium drough de puwmonary veins. Finawwy, when de pressure widin de ventricwes fawws bewow de pressure widin de aorta and puwmonary arteries, de aortic and puwmonary vawves cwose. The ventricwes start to rewax, de mitraw and tricuspid vawves open, and de cycwe begins again, uh-hah-hah-hah. 
Cardiac output (CO) is a measurement of de amount of bwood pumped by each ventricwe (stroke vowume) in one minute. This is cawcuwated by muwtipwying de stroke vowume (SV) by de beats per minute of de heart rate (HR). So dat: CO = SV x HR. The cardiac output is normawized to body size drough body surface area and is cawwed de cardiac index.
The average cardiac output, using an average stroke vowume of about 70mL, is 5.25 L/min, wif a normaw range of 4.0–8.0 L/min, uh-hah-hah-hah. The stroke vowume is normawwy measured using an echocardiogram and can be infwuenced by de size of de heart, physicaw and mentaw condition of de individuaw, sex, contractiwity, duration of contraction, prewoad and afterwoad.
Prewoad refers to de fiwwing pressure of de atria at de end of diastowe, when dey are at deir fuwwest. A main factor is how wong it takes de ventricwes to fiww: if de ventricwes contract more freqwentwy, den dere is wess time to fiww and de prewoad wiww be wess. Prewoad can awso be affected by a person's bwood vowume. The force of each contraction of de heart muscwe is proportionaw to de prewoad, described as de Frank-Starwing mechanism. This states dat de force of contraction is directwy proportionaw to de initiaw wengf of muscwe fiber, meaning a ventricwe wiww contract more forcefuwwy, de more it is stretched.
Afterwoad, or how much pressure de heart must generate to eject bwood at systowe, is infwuenced by vascuwar resistance. It can be infwuenced by narrowing of de heart vawves (stenosis) or contraction or rewaxation of de peripheraw bwood vessews.
The strengf of heart muscwe contractions controws de stroke vowume. This can be infwuenced positivewy or negativewy by agents termed inotropes. These agents can be a resuwt of changes widin de body, or be given as drugs as part of treatment for a medicaw disorder, or as a form of wife support, particuwarwy in intensive care units. Inotropes dat increase de force of contraction are "positive" inotropes, and incwude sympadetic agents such as adrenawine, noradrenawine and dopamine. "Negative" inotropes decrease de force of contraction and incwude cawcium channew bwockers.
The normaw rhydmicaw heart beat, cawwed sinus rhydm, is estabwished by de sinoatriaw node, de heart's pacemaker. Here an ewectricaw signaw is created dat travews drough de heart, causing de heart muscwe to contract.
The sinoatriaw node is found in de upper part of de right atrium near to de junction wif de superior vena cava. The ewectricaw signaw generated by de sinoatriaw node travews drough de right atrium in a radiaw way dat is not compwetewy understood. It travews to de weft atrium via Bachmann's bundwe, such dat de muscwes of de weft and right atria contract togeder. The signaw den travews to de atrioventricuwar node. This is found at de bottom of de right atrium in de atrioventricuwar septum—de boundary between de right atrium and de weft ventricwe. The septum is part of de cardiac skeweton, tissue widin de heart dat de ewectricaw signaw cannot pass drough, which forces de signaw to pass drough de atrioventricuwar node onwy. The signaw den travews awong de bundwe of His to weft and right bundwe branches drough to de ventricwes of de heart. In de ventricwes de signaw is carried by speciawized tissue cawwed de Purkinje fibers which den transmit de ewectric charge to de heart muscwe.
The normaw resting heart rate is cawwed de sinus rhydm, created and sustained by de sinoatriaw node, a group of pacemaking cewws found in de waww of de right atrium. Cewws in de sinoatriaw node do dis by creating an action potentiaw. The cardiac action potentiaw is created by de movement of specific ewectrowytes into and out of de pacemaker cewws. The action potentiaw den spreads to nearby cewws.
When de sinoatriaw cewws are resting, dey have a negative charge on deir membranes. However a rapid infwux of sodium ions causes de membrane's charge to become positive. This is cawwed depowarisation and occurs spontaneouswy. Once de ceww has a sufficientwy high charge, de sodium channews cwose and cawcium ions den begin to enter de ceww, shortwy after which potassium begins to weave it. Aww de ions travew drough ion channews in de membrane of de sinoatriaw cewws. The potassium and cawcium start to move out of and into de ceww onwy once it has a sufficientwy high charge, and so are cawwed vowtage-gated. Shortwy after dis, de cawcium channews cwose and potassium channews open, awwowing potassium to weave de ceww. This causes de ceww to have a negative resting charge and is cawwed repowarization. When de membrane potentiaw reaches approximatewy −60 mV, de potassium channews cwose and de process may begin again, uh-hah-hah-hah.
The ions move from areas where dey are concentrated to where dey are not. For dis reason sodium moves into de ceww from outside, and potassium moves from widin de ceww to outside de ceww. Cawcium awso pways a criticaw rowe. Their infwux drough swow channews means dat de sinoatriaw cewws have a prowonged "pwateau" phase when dey have a positive charge. A part of dis is cawwed de absowute refractory period. Cawcium ions awso combine wif de reguwatory protein troponin C in de troponin compwex to enabwe contraction of de cardiac muscwe, and separate from de protein to awwow rewaxation, uh-hah-hah-hah.
The aduwt resting heart rate ranges from 60 to 100 bpm. The resting heart rate of a newborn can be 129 beats per minute (bpm) and dis graduawwy decreases untiw maturity. An adwete's heart rate can be wower dan 60 bpm. During exercise de rate can be 150 bpm wif maximum rates reaching from 200 to 220 bpm.
The normaw sinus rhydm of de heart, giving de resting heart rate, is infwuenced a number of factors. The cardiovascuwar centres in de brainstem dat controw de sympadetic and parasympadetic infwuences to de heart drough de vagus nerve and sympadetic trunk. These cardiovascuwar centres receive input from a series of receptors incwuding baroreceptors, sensing stretch de stretching of bwood vessews and chemoreceptors, sensing de amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in de bwood and its pH. Through a series of refwexes dese hewp reguwate and sustain bwood fwow.
Baroreceptors are stretch receptors wocated in de aortic sinus, carotid bodies, de venae cavae, and oder wocations, incwuding puwmonary vessews and de right side of de heart itsewf. Baroreceptors fire at a rate determined by how much dey are stretched, which is infwuenced by bwood pressure, wevew of physicaw activity, and de rewative distribution of bwood. Wif increased pressure and stretch, de rate of baroreceptor firing increases, and de cardiac centers decrease sympadetic stimuwation and increase parasympadetic stimuwation . As pressure and stretch decrease, de rate of baroreceptor firing decreases, and de cardiac centers increase sympadetic stimuwation and decrease parasympadetic stimuwation, uh-hah-hah-hah. There is a simiwar refwex, cawwed de atriaw refwex or Bainbridge refwex, associated wif varying rates of bwood fwow to de atria. Increased venous return stretches de wawws of de atria where speciawized baroreceptors are wocated. However, as de atriaw baroreceptors increase deir rate of firing and as dey stretch due to de increased bwood pressure, de cardiac center responds by increasing sympadetic stimuwation and inhibiting parasympadetic stimuwation to increase heart rate. The opposite is awso true. Chemoreceptors present in de carotid body or adjacent to de aorta in an aortic body respond to de bwood's oxygen, carbon dioxide wevews. Low oxygen or high carbon dioxide wiww stimuwate firing of de receptors.
Exercise and fitness wevews, age, body temperature, basaw metabowic rate, and even a person's emotionaw state can aww affect de heart rate. High wevews of de hormones epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dyroid hormones can increase de heart rate. The wevews of ewectrowytes incwuding cawcium, potassium, and sodium can awso infwuence de speed and reguwarity of de heart rate; wow bwood oxygen, wow bwood pressure and dehydration may increase it.
Cardiovascuwar diseases, which incwude diseases of de heart, are de weading cause of deaf worwdwide. The majority of cardiovascuwar disease is noncommunicabwe and rewated to wifestywe and oder factors, becoming more prevawent wif ageing. Heart disease is a major cause of deaf, accounting for an average of 30% of aww deads in 2008, gwobawwy. This rate varies from a wower 28% to a high 40% in high-income countries. Doctors dat speciawise in de heart are cawwed cardiowogists. Many oder medicaw professionaws are invowved in treating diseases of de heart, incwuding doctors such as generaw practitioners, cardiodoracic surgeons and intensivists, and awwied heawf practitioners incwuding physioderapists and dieticians.
Ischaemic heart disease
Coronary artery disease, awso known as ischaemic heart disease, is caused by aderoscwerosis – a buiwd-up of fatty materiaw awong de inner wawws of de arteries. These fatty deposits known as aderoscwerotic pwaqwes narrow de coronary arteries, and if severe may reduce bwood fwow to de heart. If a narrowing (or stenosis) is rewativewy minor den de patient may not experience any symptoms. Severe narrowings may cause chest pain (angina) or breadwessness during exercise or even at rest. The din covering of an aderoscwerotic pwaqwe can rupture, exposing de fatty centre to de circuwating bwood. In dis case a cwot or drombus can form, bwocking de artery, and restricting bwood fwow to an area of heart muscwe causing a myocardiaw infarction (a heart attack) or unstabwe angina. In de worst case dis may cause cardiac arrest, a sudden and utter woss of output from de heart. Obesity, high bwood pressure, uncontrowwed diabetes, smoking and high chowesterow can aww increase de risk of devewoping aderoscwerosis and coronary artery disease.
Heart faiwure is defined as a condition in which de heart is unabwe to pump enough bwood to meet de demands of de body. Patients wif heart faiwure may experience breadwessness especiawwy when wying fwat, as weww as ankwe swewwing, known as peripheraw oedema. Heart faiwure is de end resuwt of many diseases affecting de heart, but is most commonwy associated wif ischaemic heart disease, vawvuwar heart disease, or high bwood pressure. Less common causes incwude various cardiomyopadies. Heart faiwure is freqwentwy associated wif weakness of de heart muscwe in de ventricwes (systowic heart faiwure), but can awso be seen in patients wif heart muscwe dat is strong but stiff (diastowic heart faiwure). The condition may affect de weft ventricwe (causing predominantwy breadwessness), de right ventricwe (causing predominantwy swewwing of de wegs and an ewevated juguwar venous pressure), or bof ventricwes. Patients wif heart faiwure are at higher risk of devewoping dangerous heart rhydm disturbances or arrhydmias.
Cardiomyopadies are diseases affecting de muscwe of de heart. Some cause abnormaw dickening of de heart muscwe (hypertrophic cardiomyopady), some cause de heart to abnormawwy expand and weaken (diwated cardiomyopady), some cause de heart muscwe to become stiff and unabwe to fuwwy rewax between contractions (restrictive cardiomyopady) and some make de heart prone to abnormaw heart rhydms (arrhydmogenic cardiomyopady). These conditions are often genetic and can be inherited, but some such as diwated cardiomyopady may be caused by damage from toxins such as awcohow. Some cardiomyopadies such as hypertrophic cardiomopady are winked to a higher risk of sudden cardiac deaf, particuwarwy in adwetes. Many cardiomyopadies can wead to heart faiwure in de water stages of de disease.
Vawvuwar heart disease
Heawdy heart vawves awwow bwood to fwow easiwy in one direction, but prevent it from fwowing in de oder direction, uh-hah-hah-hah. Diseased heart vawves may have a narrow opening and derefore restrict de fwow of bwood in de forward direction (referred to as a stenotic vawve), or may awwow bwood to weak in de reverse direction (referred to as vawvuwar regurgitation). Vawvuwar heart disease may cause breadwessness, bwackouts, or chest pain, but may be asymptomatic and onwy detected on a routine examination by hearing abnormaw heart sounds or a heart murmur. In de devewoped worwd, vawvuwar heart disease is most commonwy caused by degeneration secondary to owd age, but may awso be caused by infection of de heart vawves (endocarditis). In some parts of de worwd rheumatic heart disease is a major cause of vawvuwar heart disease, typicawwy weading to mitraw or aortic stenosis and caused by de body's immune system reacting to a streptococcaw droat infection, uh-hah-hah-hah.
Whiwe in de heawdy heart, waves of ewectricaw impuwses originate in de sinus node before spreading to de rest of de atria, de atrioventricuwar node, and finawwy de ventricwes (referred to as a normaw sinus rhydm), dis normaw rhydm can be disrupted. Abnormaw heart rhydms or arrhydmias may be asymptomatic or may cause pawpitations, bwackouts, or breadwessness. Some types of arrhydmia such as atriaw fibriwwation increase de wong term risk of stroke.
Some arrhydmias cause de heart to beat abnormawwy swowwy, referred to as a bradycardia or bradyarrhydmia. This may be caused by an abnormawwy swow sinus node or damage widin de cardiac conduction system (heart bwock). In oder arrhydmias de heart may beat abnormawwy rapidwy, referred to as a tachycardia or tachyarrhydmia. These arrhydmias can take many forms and can originate from different structures widin de heart – some arise from de atria (e.g. atriaw fwutter), some from de atrioventricuwar node (e.g. AV nodaw re-entrant tachycardia) whiwst oders arise from de ventricwes (e.g. ventricuwar tachycardia). Some tachyarrhydmias are caused by scarring widin de heart (e.g. some forms of ventricuwar tachycardia), oders by an irritabwe focus (e.g. focaw atriaw tachycardia), whiwe oders are caused by additionaw abnormaw conduction tissue dat has been present since birf (e.g. Wowff-Parkinson-White syndrome). The most dangerous form of heart racing is ventricuwar fibriwwation, in which de ventricwes qwiver rader dan contract, and which if untreated is rapidwy fataw.
The sack which surrounds de heart, cawwed de pericardium, can become infwamed in a condition known as pericarditis. This condition typicawwy causes chest pain dat may spread to de back, and is often caused by a viraw infection (gwanduwar fever, cytomegawovirus, or coxsackievirus). Fwuid can buiwd up widin de pericardiaw sack, referred to as a pericardiaw effusion. Pericardiaw effusions often occur secondary to pericarditis, kidney faiwure, or tumours, and freqwentwy do not cause any symptoms. However, warge effusions or effusions which accumuwate rapidwy can compress de heart in a condition known as cardiac tamponade, causing breadwessness and potentiawwy fataw wow bwood pressure. Fwuid can be removed from de pericardiaw space for diagnosis or to rewieve tamponade using a syringe in a procedure cawwed pericardiocentesis.
Congenitaw heart disease
Some peopwe are born wif hearts dat are abnormaw and dese abnormawities are known as congenitaw heart defects. They may range from de rewativewy minor (e.g. patent foramen ovawe, arguabwy a variant of normaw) to serious wife-dreatening abnormawities (e.g. hypopwastic weft heart syndrome). Common abnormawities incwude dose dat affect de heart muscwe dat separates de two side of de heart (a 'howe in de heart' e.g. ventricuwar septaw defect). Oder defects incwude dose affecting de heart vawves (e.g. congenitaw aortic stenosis), or de main bwood vessews dat wead from de heart (e.g. coarctation of de aorta). More compwex syndromes are seen dat affect more dan one part of de heart (e.g. Tetrawogy of Fawwot).
Some congenitaw heart defects awwow bwood dat is wow in oxygen dat wouwd normawwy be returned to de wungs to instead be pumped back to de rest of de body. These are known as cyanotic congenitaw heart defects and are often more serious. Major congenitaw heart defects are often picked up in chiwdhood, shortwy after birf, or even before a chiwd is born (e.g. transposition of de great arteries), causing breadwessness and a wower rate of growf. More minor forms of congenitaw heart disease may remain undetected for many years and onwy reveaw demsewves in aduwt wife (e.g. atriaw septaw defect).
Heart disease is diagnosed by de taking of a medicaw history, a cardiac examination, and furder investigations, incwuding bwood tests, echocardiograms, ECGs and imaging. Oder invasive procedures such as cardiac cadeterisation can awso pway a rowe.
The cardiac examination incwudes inspection, feewing de chest wif de hands (pawpation) and wistening wif a stedoscope (auscuwtation). It invowves assessment of signs dat may be visibwe on a person's hands (such as spwinter haemorrhages), joints and oder areas. A person's puwse is taken, usuawwy at de radiaw artery near de wrist, in order to assess for de rhydm and strengf of de puwse. The bwood pressure is taken, using eider a manuaw or automatic sphygmomanometer or using a more invasive measurement from widin de artery. Any ewevation of de juguwar venous puwse is noted. A person's chest is fewt for any transmitted vibrations from de heart, and den wistened to wif a stedoscope.
Typicawwy, heawdy hearts have onwy two audibwe heart sounds, cawwed S1 and S2. The first heart sound S1, is de sound created by de cwosing of de atrioventricuwar vawves during ventricuwar contraction and is normawwy described as "wub". The second heart sound, S2, is de sound of de semiwunar vawves cwosing during ventricuwar diastowe and is described as "dub". Each sound consists of two components, refwecting de swight difference in time as de two vawves cwose. S2 may spwit into two distinct sounds, eider as a resuwt of inspiration or different vawvuwar or cardiac probwems. Additionaw heart sounds may awso be present and dese give rise to gawwop rhydms. A dird heart sound, S3 usuawwy indicates an increase in ventricuwar bwood vowume. A fourf heart sound S4 is referred to as an atriaw gawwop and is produced by de sound of bwood being forced into a stiff ventricwe. The combined presence of S3 and S4 give a qwadrupwe gawwop.
Heart murmurs are abnormaw heart sounds which can be eider rewated to disease or benign, and dere are severaw kinds. There are normawwy two heart sounds, and abnormaw heart sounds can eider be extra sounds, or "murmurs" rewated to de fwow of bwood between de sounds. Murmurs are graded by vowume, from 1 (de qwietest), to 6 (de woudest), and evawuated by deir rewationship to de heart sounds, position in de cardiac cycwe, and additionaw features such as deir radiation to oder sites, changes wif a person's position, de freqwency of de sound as determined by de side of de stedoscope by which dey are heard, and site at which dey are heard woudest. Murmurs may be caused by damaged heart vawves, congenitaw heart disease such as ventricuwar septaw defects, or may be heard in normaw hearts. A different type of sound, a pericardiaw friction rub can be heard in cases of pericarditis where de infwamed membranes can rub togeder.
Bwood tests pway an important rowe in de diagnosis and treatment of many cardiovascuwar conditions.
Troponin is a sensitive biomarker for a heart wif insufficient bwood suppwy. It is reweased 4–6 hours after injury, and usuawwy peaks at about 12–24 hours. Two tests of troponin are often taken – one at de time of initiaw presentation, and anoder widin 3–6 hours, wif eider a high wevew or a significant rise being diagnostic. A test for brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) can be used to evawuate for de presence of heart faiwure, and rises when dere is increased demand on de weft ventricwe. These tests are considered biomarkers because dey are highwy specific for cardiac disease. Testing for de MB form of creatine kinase provides information about de heart's bwood suppwy, but is used wess freqwentwy because it is wess specific and sensitive.
Oder bwood tests are often taken to hewp understand a person's generaw heawf and risk factors dat may contribute to heart disease. These often incwude a fuww bwood count investigating for anaemia, and basic metabowic panew dat may reveaw any disturbances in ewectrowytes. A coaguwation screen is often reqwired to ensure dat de right wevew of anticoaguwation is given, uh-hah-hah-hah. Fasting wipids and fasting bwood gwucose (or an HbA1c wevew) are often ordered to evawuate a person's chowesterow and diabetes status, respectivewy.
Using surface ewectrodes on de body, it is possibwe to record de ewectricaw activity of de heart. This tracing of de ewectricaw signaw is de ewectrocardiogram (ECG) or (EKG). An ECG is a bedside test and invowves de pwacement of ten weads on de body. This produces a "12 wead" ECG (dree extra weads are cawcuwated madematicawwy, and one wead is a ground).
There are five prominent features on de ECG: de P wave (atriaw depowarisation), de QRS compwex (ventricuwar depowarisation[h]) and de T wave (ventricuwar repowarisation). As de heart cewws contract, dey create a current dat travews drough de heart. A downward defwection on de ECG impwies cewws are becoming more positive in charge ("depowarising") in de direction of dat wead, whereas an upward infwection impwies cewws are becoming more negative ("repowarising") in de direction of de wead. This depends on de position of de wead, so if a wave of depowarising moved from weft to right, a wead on de weft wouwd show a negative defwection, and a wead on de right wouwd show a positive defwection, uh-hah-hah-hah. The ECG is a usefuw toow in detecting rhydm disturbances and in detecting insufficient bwood suppwy to de heart. Sometimes abnormawities are suspected, but not immediatewy visibwe on de ECG. Testing when exercising can be used to provoke an abnormawity, or an ECG can be worn for a wonger period such as a 24-hour Howter monitor if a suspected rhydm abnormawity is not present at de time of assessment.
Severaw imaging medods can be used to assess de anatomy and function of de heart, incwuding uwtrasound (echocardiography), angiography, CT scans, MRI and PET. An echocardiogram is an uwtrasound of de heart used to measure de heart's function, assess for vawve disease, and wook for any abnormawities. Echocardiography can be conducted by a probe on de chest ("transdoracic") or by a probe in de esophagus ("transoesophageaw"). A typicaw echocardiography report wiww incwude information about de widf of de vawves noting any stenosis, wheder dere is any backfwow of bwood (regurgitation) and information about de bwood vowumes at de end of systowe and diastowe, incwuding an ejection fraction, which describes how much bwood is ejected from de weft and right ventricwes after systowe. Ejection fraction can den be obtained by dividing de vowume ejected by de heart (stroke vowume) by de vowume of de fiwwed heart (end-diastowic vowume). Echocardiograms can awso be conducted under circumstances when de body is more stressed, in order to examine for signs of wack of bwood suppwy. This cardiac stress test invowves eider direct exercise, or where dis is not possibwe, injection of a drug such as dobutamine.
CT scans, chest X-rays and oder forms of imaging can hewp evawuate de heart's size, evawuate for signs of puwmonary oedema, and indicate wheder dere is fwuid around de heart. They are awso usefuw for evawuating de aorta, de major bwood vessew which weaves de heart.
Diseases affecting de heart can be treated by a variety of medods incwuding wifestywe modification, drug treatment, and surgery.
Ischaemic heart disease
Narrowings of de coronary arteries (ischaemic heart disease) are treated to rewieve symptoms of chest pain caused by a partiawwy narrowed artery (angina pectoris), to minimise heart muscwe damage when an artery is compwetewy occwuded (myocardiaw infarction), or to prevent a myocardiaw infarction from occurring. Medications to improve angina symptoms incwude nitrogwycerin, beta bwockers, and cawcium channew bwockers, whiwe preventative treatments incwude antipwatewets such as aspirin and statins, wifestywe measures such as stopping smoking and weight woss, and treatment of risk factors such as high bwood pressure and diabetes.
In addition to using medications, narrowed heart arteries can be treated by expanding de narrowings or redirecting de fwow of bwood to bypass an obstruction, uh-hah-hah-hah. This may be performed using a percutaneous coronary intervention, during which narrowings can be expanded by passing smaww bawwoon-tipped wires into de coronary arteries, infwating de bawwoon to expand de narrowing, and sometimes weaving behind a metaw scaffowd known as a stent to keep de artery open, uh-hah-hah-hah.
If de narrowings in coronary arteries are unsuitabwe for treatment wif a percutaneous coronary intervention, open surgery may be reqwired. A coronary artery bypass graft can be performed, whereby a bwood vessew from anoder part of de body (de saphenous vein, radiaw artery, or internaw mammary artery) is used to redirect bwood from a point before de narrowing (typicawwy de aorta) to a point beyond de obstruction, uh-hah-hah-hah.
Vawvuwar heart disease
Diseased heart vawves dat have become abnormawwy narrow or abnormawwy weaky may reqwire surgery. This is traditionawwy performed as an open surgicaw procedure to repwace de damaged heart vawve wif a tissue or metawwic prosdetic vawve. In some circumstances, de tricuspid or mitraw vawves can be repaired surgicawwy, avoiding de need for a vawve repwacement. Heart vawves can awso be treated percutaneouswy, using techniqwes dat share many simiwarities wif percutaneous coronary intervention, uh-hah-hah-hah. Transcadeter aortic vawve repwacement is increasingwy used for patients consider very high risk for open vawve repwacement.
Abnormaw heart rhydms (arrhydmias) can be treated using antiarrhydmic drugs. These may work by manipuwating de fwow of ewectrowytes across de ceww membrane (such as cawcium channew bwockers, sodium channew bwockers, amiodarone, or digoxin), or modify de autonomic nervous system's effect on de heart (beta bwockers and atropine). In some arrhydmias such as atriaw fibriwwation which increase de risk of stroke, dis risk can be reduced using anticoaguwants such as warfarin or novew oraw anticoaguawants.
If medications faiw to controw an arrhydmia, anoder treatment option may be cadeter abwation. In dese procedures, wires are passed from a vein or artery in de weg to de heart to find de abnormaw area of tissue dat is causing de arrhydmia. The abnormaw tissue can be intentionawwy damaged, or abwated, by heating or freezing to prevent furder heart rhydm disturbances. Whiwst de majority of arrhydmias can be treated using minimawwy invasive cadeter techniqwes, some arrhydmias (particuwarwy atriaw fibriwwation) can awso be treated using open or doracoscopic surgery, eider at de time of oder cardiac surgery or as a standawone procedure. A cardioversion, whereby an ewectric shock is used to stun de heart out of an abnormaw rhydm, may awso be used.
Cardiac devices in de form of pacemakers or impwantabwe defibriwwators may awso be reqwired to treat arrhydmias. Pacemakers, comprising a smaww battery powered generator impwanted under de skin and one or more weads dat extend to de heart, are most commonwy used to treat abnormawwy swow heart rhydms. Impwantabwe defibriwwators are used to treat serious wife-dreatening rapid heart rhydms. These devices monitor de heart, and if dangerous heart racing is detected can automaticawwy dewiver a shock to restore de heart to a normaw rhydm. Impwantabwe defibriwwators are most commonwy used in patients wif heart faiwure, cardiomyopadies, or inherited arrhydmia syndromes.
As weww as addressing de underwying cause for a patient's heart faiwure (most commonwy ischaemic heart disease or hypertension), de mainstay of heart faiwure treatment is wif medication, uh-hah-hah-hah. These incwude drugs to prevent fwuid from accumuwating in de wungs by increasing de amount of urine a patient produces (diuretics), and drugs dat attempt to preserve de pumping function of de heart (beta bwockers, ACE inhibitors and minerawocorticoid receptor antagonists).
In some patients wif heart faiwure, a speciawised pacemaker known as cardiac resynchronisation derapy can be used to improve de heart's pumping efficiency. These devices are freqwentwy combined wif a defibriwwator. In very severe cases of heart faiwure, a smaww pump cawwed a ventricuwar assist device may be impwanted which suppwements de heart's own pumping abiwity. In de most severe cases, a cardiac transpwant may be considered.
Humans have known about de heart since ancient times, awdough its precise function and anatomy were not cwearwy understood. From de primariwy rewigious views of earwier societies towards de heart, ancient Greeks are considered to have been de primary seat of scientific understanding of de heart in de ancient worwd. Aristotwe considered de heart to be organ responsibwe for creating bwood; Pwato considered de heart as de source of circuwating bwood and Hippocrates noted bwood circuwating cycwicawwy from de body drough de heart to de wungs. Erasistratos (304–250 BCE) noted de heart as a pump, causing diwation of bwood vessews, and noted dat arteries and veins bof radiate from de heart, becoming progressivewy smawwer wif distance, awdough he bewieved dey were fiwwed wif air and not bwood. He awso discovered de heart vawves.
The Greek physician Gawen (2nd century CE) knew bwood vessews carried bwood and identified venous (dark red) and arteriaw (brighter and dinner) bwood, each wif distinct and separate functions. Gawen, noting de heart as de hottest organ in de body, concwuded dat it provided heat to de body. The heart did not pump bwood around, de heart's motion sucked bwood in during diastowe and de bwood moved by de puwsation of de arteries demsewves. Gawen bewieved de arteriaw bwood was created by venous bwood passing from de weft ventricwe to de right drough 'pores' between de ventricwes. Air from de wungs passed from de wungs via de puwmonary artery to de weft side of de heart and created arteriaw bwood.
The earwiest descriptions of de coronary and puwmonary circuwation systems can be found in de Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon, pubwished in 1242 by Ibn aw-Nafis. In his manuscript, aw-Nafis wrote dat bwood passes drough de puwmonary circuwation instead of moving from de right to de weft ventricwe as previouswy bewieved by Gawen, uh-hah-hah-hah. His work was water transwated into Latin by Andrea Awpago.
In Europe, de teachings of Gawen continued to dominate de academic community and his doctrines were adopted as de officiaw canon of de Church. Andreas Vesawius qwestioned some of Gawen's bewiefs of de heart in De humani corporis fabrica (1543), but his magnum opus was interpreted as a chawwenge to de audorities and he was subjected to a number of attacks. Michaew Servetus wrote in Christianismi Restitutio (1553) dat bwood fwows from one side of de heart to de oder via de wungs.
A breakdrough in understanding de fwow of bwood drough de heart and body came wif de pubwication of De Motu Cordis (1628) by de Engwish physician Wiwwiam Harvey. Harvey's book compwetewy describes de systemic circuwation and de mechanicaw force of de heart, weading to an overhauw of de Gawenic doctrines. Otto Frank (1865–1944) was a German physiowogist; among his many pubwished works are detaiwed studies of dis important heart rewationship. Ernest Starwing (1866–1927) was an important Engwish physiowogist who awso studied de heart. Awdough dey worked wargewy independentwy, deir combined efforts and simiwar concwusions have been recognized in de name "Frank–Starwing mechanism".
Awdough Purkinje fibers and de bundwe of His were discovered as earwy as de 19f century, deir specific rowe in de ewectricaw conduction system of de heart remained unknown untiw Sunao Tawara pubwished his monograph, titwed Das Reizweitungssystem des Säugetierherzens, in 1906. Tawara's discovery of de atrioventricuwar node prompted Ardur Keif and Martin Fwack to wook for simiwar structures in de heart, weading to deir discovery of de sinoatriaw node severaw monds water. These structures form de anatomicaw basis of de ewectrocardiogram, whose inventor, Wiwwem Eindoven, was awarded de Nobew Prize in Medicine or Physiowogy in 1924.
The first successfuw heart transpwantation was performed in 1967 by de Souf African surgeon Christiaan Barnard at Groote Schuur Hospitaw in Cape Town. This marked an important miwestone in cardiac surgery, capturing de attention of bof de medicaw profession and de worwd at warge. However, wong-term survivaw rates of patients were initiawwy very wow. Louis Washkansky, de first recipient of a donated heart, died 18 days after de operation whiwe oder patients did not survive for more dan a few weeks. The American surgeon Norman Shumway has been credited for his efforts to improve transpwantation techniqwes, awong wif pioneers Richard Lower, Vwadimir Demikhov and Adrian Kantrowitz. As of March 2000, more dan 55,000 heart transpwantations have been performed worwdwide.
By de middwe of de 20f century, heart disease had surpassed infectious disease as de weading cause of deaf in de United States, and it is currentwy de weading cause of deads worwdwide. Since 1948, de ongoing Framingham Heart Study has shed wight on de effects of various infwuences on de heart, incwuding diet, exercise, and common medications such as aspirin. Awdough de introduction of ACE inhibitors and beta bwockers has improved de management of chronic heart faiwure, de disease continues to be an enormous medicaw and societaw burden, wif 30 to 40% of patients dying widin a year of receiving de diagnosis.
Society and cuwture
|jb (F34) "heart"|
As one of de vitaw organs, de heart was wong identified as de center of de entire body, de seat of wife, or emotion, or reason, wiww, intewwect, purpose or de mind. The heart is an embwematic symbow in many rewigions, signifying "truf, conscience or moraw courage in many rewigions – de tempwe or drone of God in Iswamic and Judeo-Christian dought; de divine centre, or atman, and de dird eye of transcendent wisdom in Hinduism; de diamond of purity and essence of de Buddha; de Taoist centre of understanding."
In de Hebrew Bibwe, de word for heart, wev, is used in dese meanings, as de seat of emotion, de mind, and referring to de anatomicaw organ, uh-hah-hah-hah. It is awso connected in function and symbowism to de stomach.
An important part of de concept of de souw in Ancient Egyptian rewigion was dought to be de heart, or ib. The ib or metaphysicaw heart was bewieved to be formed from one drop of bwood from de chiwd's moder's heart, taken at conception, uh-hah-hah-hah. To ancient Egyptians, de heart was de seat of emotion, dought, wiww, and intention. This is evidenced by Egyptian expressions which incorporate de word ib, such as Awi-ib for "happy" (witerawwy, "wong of heart"), Xak-ib for "estranged" (witerawwy, "truncated of heart"). In Egyptian rewigion, de heart was de key to de afterwife. It was conceived as surviving deaf in de neder worwd, where it gave evidence for, or against, its possessor. It was dought dat de heart was examined by Anubis and a variety of deities during de Weighing of de Heart ceremony. If de heart weighed more dan de feader of Maat, which symbowized de ideaw standard of behavior. If de scawes bawanced, it meant de heart's possessor had wived a just wife and couwd enter de afterwife; if de heart was heavier, it wouwd be devoured by de monster Ammit.
The Chinese character for "heart", 心, derives from a comparativewy reawistic depiction of a heart (indicating de heart chambers) in seaw script. The Chinese word xīn awso takes de metaphoricaw meanings of "mind", "intention", or "core". In Chinese medicine, de heart is seen as de center of 神 shén "spirit, consciousness". The heart is associated wif de smaww intestine, tongue, governs de six organs and five viscera, and bewongs to fire in de five ewements.
The Sanskrit word for heart is hṛd or hṛdaya, found in de owdest surviving Sanskrit text, de Rigveda. In Sanskrit, it may mean bof de anatomicaw object and "mind" or "souw", representing de seat of emotion, uh-hah-hah-hah. Hrd may be a cognate of de word for heart in Greek, Latin, and Engwish.
Many cwassicaw phiwosophers and scientists, incwuding Aristotwe, considered de heart de seat of dought, reason, or emotion, often disregarding de brain as contributing to dose functions. The identification of de heart as de seat of emotions in particuwar is due to de Roman physician Gawen, who awso wocated de seat of de passions in de wiver, and de seat of reason in de brain, uh-hah-hah-hah.
The heart awso pwayed a rowe in de Aztec system of bewief. The most common form of human sacrifice practiced by de Aztecs was heart-extraction, uh-hah-hah-hah. The Aztec bewieved dat de heart (tona) was bof de seat of de individuaw and a fragment of de Sun's heat (istwi). To dis day, de Nahua consider de Sun to be a heart-souw (tona-tiuh): "round, hot, puwsating".
In Cadowicism, dere has been a wong tradition of veneration of de heart, stemming from worship of de wounds of Jesus Christ which gained prominence from de mid sixteenf century. This tradition infwuenced de devewopment of de medievaw Christian devotion to de Sacred Heart of Jesus and de parawwew worship of Immacuwate Heart of Mary, made popuwar by John Eudes.
The notion of "Cupid's arrows" is ancient, due to Ovid, but whiwe Ovid describes Cupid as wounding his victims wif his arrows, it is not made expwicit dat it is de heart dat is wounded. The famiwiar iconography of Cupid shooting wittwe heart symbows is a Renaissance deme dat became tied to Vawentine's day.
Animaw hearts are widewy consumed as food. As dey are awmost entirewy muscwe, dey are high in protein, uh-hah-hah-hah. They are often incwuded in dishes wif oder offaw, for exampwe in de pan-Ottoman kokoretsi.
Chicken hearts are considered to be gibwets, and are often griwwed on skewers: Japanese hāto yakitori, Braziwian churrasco de coração, Indonesian chicken heart satay. They can awso be pan-fried, as in Jerusawem mixed griww. In Egyptian cuisine, dey can be used, finewy chopped, as part of stuffing for chicken, uh-hah-hah-hah. Many recipes combined dem wif oder gibwets, such as de Mexican powwo en menudencias and de Russian ragu iz kurinyikh potrokhov.
The hearts of beef, pork, and mutton can generawwy be interchanged in recipes. As heart is a hard-working muscwe, it makes for "firm and rader dry" meat, so is generawwy swow-cooked. Anoder way of deawing wif toughness is to juwienne de meat, as in Chinese stir-fried heart.
Beef heart may be griwwed or braised. In de Peruvian anticuchos de corazón, barbecued beef hearts are griwwed after being tenderized drough wong marination in a spice and vinegar mixture. An Austrawian recipe for "mock goose" is actuawwy braised stuffed beef heart.
Pig heart is stewed, poached, braised, or made into sausage. The Bawinese oret is a sort of bwood sausage made wif pig heart and bwood. A French recipe for cœur de porc à w'orange is made of braised heart wif an orange sauce.
The size of de heart varies among de different animaw groups, wif hearts in vertebrates ranging from dose of de smawwest mice (12 mg) to de bwue whawe (600 kg). In vertebrates, de heart wies in de middwe of de ventraw part of de body, surrounded by a pericardium. which in some fish may be connected to de peritoneum.
The SA node is found in aww amniotes but not in more primitive vertebrates. In dese animaws, de muscwes of de heart are rewativewy continuous, and de sinus venosus coordinates de beat, which passes in a wave drough de remaining chambers. Indeed, since de sinus venosus is incorporated into de right atrium in amniotes, it is wikewy homowogous wif de SA node. In teweosts, wif deir vestigiaw sinus venosus, de main centre of coordination is, instead, in de atrium. The rate of heartbeat varies enormouswy between different species, ranging from around 20 beats per minute in codfish to around 600 in hummingbirds and up to 1200 bpm in de ruby-droated hummingbird.
Doubwe circuwatory systems
Aduwt amphibians and most reptiwes have a doubwe circuwatory system, meaning a circuwatory system divided into arteriaw and venous parts. However, de heart itsewf is not compwetewy separated into two sides. Instead, it is separated into dree chambers – two atria and one ventricwe. Bwood returning from bof de systemic circuwation and de wungs is returned, and bwood is pumped simuwtaneouswy into de systemic circuwation and de wungs. The doubwe system awwows bwood to circuwate to and from wungs which dewiver oxygenated bwood directwy to de heart.
In reptiwes, de heart is usuawwy situated around de middwe of de dorax, and in snakes, usuawwy between de junction of de upper first and second dird. There is a heart wif dree chambers: two atria and one ventricwe. The ventricwe is incompwetewy separated into two hawves by a waww (septum), wif a considerabwe gap near de puwmonary artery and aortic openings. In most reptiwian species, dere appears to be wittwe, if any, mixing between de bwoodstreams, so de aorta receives, essentiawwy, onwy oxygenated bwood. The exception to dis ruwe is crocodiwes, which have a four-chambered heart.
In de heart of wungfish, de septum extends part-way into de ventricwe. This awwows for some degree of separation between de de-oxygenated bwoodstream destined for de wungs and de oxygenated stream dat is dewivered to de rest of de body. The absence of such a division in wiving amphibian species may be partwy due to de amount of respiration dat occurs drough de skin; dus, de bwood returned to de heart drough de venae cavae is awready partiawwy oxygenated. As a resuwt, dere may be wess need for a finer division between de two bwoodstreams dan in wungfish or oder tetrapods. Nonedewess, in at weast some species of amphibian, de spongy nature of de ventricwe does seem to maintain more of a separation between de bwoodstreams. Awso, de originaw vawves of de conus arteriosus have been repwaced by a spiraw vawve dat divides it into two parawwew parts, dereby hewping to keep de two bwoodstreams separate.
The fuwwy divided heart
Archosaurs (crocodiwians and birds) and mammaws show compwete separation of de heart into two pumps for a totaw of four heart chambers; it is dought dat de four-chambered heart of archosaurs evowved independentwy from dat of mammaws. In crocodiwians, dere is a smaww opening, de foramen of Panizza, at de base of de arteriaw trunks and dere is some degree of mixing between de bwood in each side of de heart, during a dive underwater; dus, onwy in birds and mammaws are de two streams of bwood – dose to de puwmonary and systemic circuwations – permanentwy kept entirewy separate by a physicaw barrier.
Fish have what is often described as a two-chambered heart, consisting of one atrium to receive bwood and one ventricwe to pump it. However, de fish heart has entry and exit compartments dat may be cawwed chambers, so it is awso sometimes described as dree-chambered or four-chambered, depending on what is counted as a chamber. The atrium and ventricwe are sometimes considered "true chambers", whiwe de oders are considered "accessory chambers".
Primitive fish have a four-chambered heart, but de chambers are arranged seqwentiawwy so dat dis primitive heart is qwite unwike de four-chambered hearts of mammaws and birds. The first chamber is de sinus venosus, which cowwects deoxygenated bwood from de body drough de hepatic and cardinaw veins. From here, bwood fwows into de atrium and den to de powerfuw muscuwar ventricwe where de main pumping action wiww take pwace. The fourf and finaw chamber is de conus arteriosus, which contains severaw vawves and sends bwood to de ventraw aorta. The ventraw aorta dewivers bwood to de giwws where it is oxygenated and fwows, drough de dorsaw aorta, into de rest of de body. (In tetrapods, de ventraw aorta has divided in two; one hawf forms de ascending aorta, whiwe de oder forms de puwmonary artery).
In de aduwt fish, de four chambers are not arranged in a straight row but instead form an S-shape, wif de watter two chambers wying above de former two. This rewativewy simpwer pattern is found in cartiwaginous fish and in de ray-finned fish. In teweosts, de conus arteriosus is very smaww and can more accuratewy be described as part of de aorta rader dan of de heart proper. The conus arteriosus is not present in any amniotes, presumabwy having been absorbed into de ventricwes over de course of evowution, uh-hah-hah-hah. Simiwarwy, whiwe de sinus venosus is present as a vestigiaw structure in some reptiwes and birds, it is oderwise absorbed into de right atrium and is no wonger distinguishabwe.
Ardropods and most mowwusks have an open circuwatory system. In dis system, deoxygenated bwood cowwects around de heart in cavities (sinuses). This bwood swowwy permeates de heart drough many smaww one-way channews. The heart den pumps de bwood into de hemocoew, a cavity between de organs. The heart in ardropods is typicawwy a muscuwar tube dat runs de wengf of de body, under de back and from de base of de head. Instead of bwood de circuwatory fwuid is haemowymph which carries de most commonwy used respiratory pigment, copper-based haemocyanin as de oxygen transporter; iron-based haemogwobin is used by onwy a few ardropods.
In some oder invertebrates such as eardworms, de circuwatory system is not used to transport oxygen and so is much reduced, having no veins or arteries and consisting of two connected tubes. Oxygen travews by diffusion and dere are five smaww muscuwar vessews dat connect dese vessews dat contract at de front of de animaws dat can be dought of as "hearts".
Sqwids and oder cephawopods have two "giww hearts" awso known as branchiaw hearts, and one "systemic heart". The brachiaw hearts have two atria and one ventricwe each, and pump to de giwws, whereas de systemic heart pumps to de body.
- From de heart to de body
- Arteries dat contain deoxygenated bwood, from de heart to de wungs
- Suppwying bwood to de heart itsewf
- From de body to de heart
- Veins containing oxygenated bwood from de wungs to de heart
- Veins dat drain bwood from de cardiac tissue itsewf
- Note de muscwes do not cause de vawves to open, uh-hah-hah-hah. The pressure difference between de bwood in de atria and de ventricwes does dis.
- Depowarisation of de ventricwes occurs concurrentwy, but is not significant enough to be detected on an ECG.
This articwe incorporates text from de CC-BY book: OpenStax Cowwege, Anatomy & Physiowogy. OpenStax CNX. 30 juw 2014..
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