Anatomy and Function of the Heart Valves

What are coronary heart valves?

The guts has 4 chambers, 2 higher chambers (atria) and a pair of decrease chambers (ventricles). Blood passes by means of a valve earlier than leaving every chamber of the guts. The valves stop the backward movement of blood. Valves are literally flaps (leaflets) that act as one-way inlets for blood coming right into a ventricle and one-way shops for blood leaving a ventricle. Regular valves have 3 flaps (leaflets), besides the mitral valve. It solely has 2 flaps. The 4 coronary heart valves are:

• Tricuspid valve. This valve is positioned between the correct atrium and the correct ventricle.

• Pulmonary valve. The pulmonary valve is positioned between the correct ventricle and the pulmonary artery.

• Mitral valve. This valve is positioned between the left atrium and the left ventricle. It has solely 2 leaflets.

• Aortic valve. The aortic valve is positioned between the left ventricle and the aorta.

How do the guts valves work?

As the guts muscle contracts and relaxes, the valves open and shut. This lets blood movement into the ventricles and atria at alternate instances. Here’s a step-by-step description of how the valves work usually within the left ventricle:

• When the left ventricle relaxes, the aortic valve closes and the mitral valve opens. This lets blood movement from the left atrium into the left ventricle.

• The left atrium contracts. This lets much more blood to movement into the left ventricle.

• When the left ventricle contracts, the mitral valve closes and the aortic valve opens. That is so blood flows into the aorta and out to the remainder of the physique.

• Whereas the left ventricle is stress-free, the correct ventricle additionally relaxes. This causes the pulmonary valve to shut and the tricuspid valve to open. This lets blood movement into the correct ventricle that was returned to the correct atrium from the physique.

• When the left ventricle contracts, the correct ventricle additionally contracts. This causes the pulmonary valve to open and the tricuspid valve to shut. Blood flows out from the correct ventricle to the lungs earlier than it’s returned to the left atrium as contemporary, oxygenated blood.

What’s coronary heart valve illness?

Coronary heart valves can have a number of issues. These embody:

• Regurgitation is a leaky valve. This implies the valve does not totally shut, and the blood flows backward by means of the valve. This ends in leakage of blood again into the atria from the ventricles within the case of the mitral and tricuspid valves. Or it leaks again into the ventricles within the case of the aortic and pulmonary valves. This could trigger the chambers to be overworked as a result of they should pump the additional blood that was returned. Over time, this will trigger structural and purposeful modifications within the coronary heart chambers. These modifications stop the chambers from pumping blood usually.

• Stenosis is a narrowed valve. With stenosis, the valve opening is narrowed, and the valve does not open accurately. This makes it more durable for the guts to pump blood throughout the narrowed valve. The guts should use extra power to pump blood by means of the stiff (stenotic) valve or valves. This could additionally trigger structural and purposeful modifications to the totally different chambers of the guts. These modifications stop the guts from pumping blood usually.

• Atresia. This implies the valve opening does not develop usually throughout childhood. This prevents blood from passing from an atrium to a ventricle, or from a ventricle to the pulmonary artery or aorta. Blood should discover one other route. That is normally by means of an issue current at delivery (congenital). This is likely to be an atrial septal defect or a ventricular septal defect. This acts as one other route for the blood to maneuver by means of the guts

When coronary heart valves fail to open and shut accurately, the harm to the guts will be severe. The hurt can have an effect on the guts’s skill to pump blood by means of the physique.