Cardiac valves
The four cardiac valves direct the flow of blood through the heart during the cardiac cycle.
Gross anatomy
The heart valves are located in the cardiac fibrous skeleton:
- two are atrioventricular (AV) valves: the right-sided tricuspid valve (TV) and left-sided mitral (bicuspid) valve (MV)
- open during diastole to direct blood flow from the atria to the ventricles
- close during systole to prevent regurgitation back into the atria from the ventricles
- are attached to papillary muscles via chordae tendineae
- two are semilunar valves: the right-sided pulmonary valve (PV) and left-sided aortic valve (AV)
- open during systole to direct blood flow from the contracting ventricles through the right ventricle and left ventricle outflow tracts to the pulmonary trunk and ascending aorta, respectively
- close during diastole to prevent regurgitation back into the ventricles from the pulmonary trunk and ascending aorta
- these valves do not have chordae tendineae or papillary muscles
It is best to list the four valves in order of the series that blood travels through the heart:
- venous blood returning from the body drains into the right atrium via the SVC, IVC and coronary sinus
- the right atrium pumps blood through the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle
- the right ventricle pumps blood through the pulmonary semilunar valve into the pulmonary trunk to be oxygenated in the lungs
- blood returning from the lungs drains into the left atrium via the four pulmonary veins
- the left atrium pumps blood through the bicuspid (mitral) valve into the left ventricle
- the left ventricle pumps blood through the aortic semilunar valve into the ascending aorta to supply the body
See also
Related Radiopaedia articles
Anatomy: Thoracic
- thoracic skeleton
- thoracic cage
- thoracic spine
- articulations
- muscles of the thorax
- diaphragm
- intercostal space
- intercostal muscles
- variant anatomy
- spaces of the thorax
- thoracic viscera
- tracheobronchial tree
-
lungs
-
bronchopulmonary segmental anatomy (Boyden Classification) (mnemonic)
- left lung
- right lung
- variant anatomy
- lung parenchyma
- hilum
- pleura
-
bronchopulmonary segmental anatomy (Boyden Classification) (mnemonic)
-
heart
- cardiac chambers
- heart valves
- pectinate muscles
- cardiac fibrous skeleton
-
coronary arteries
- coronary arterial dominance
- myocardial segments
-
left main coronary artery (LMCA)
- ramus intermedius artery (RI)
-
circumflex artery (LCx)
- obtuse marginal branches (OM1, OM2, etc))
- Kugel's artery
-
left anterior descending artery (LAD)
- diagonal branches (D1, D2, etc)
- septal perforators (S1, S2, etc)
-
right coronary artery (RCA)
- conus artery
- sinoatrial nodal artery
- acute marginal branches (AM1, AM2, etc)
- inferior interventricular artery (PDA)
- posterior left ventricular artery (PLV)
- congenital anomalies
- innervation of the heart
- fetal circulation
-
pericardium
- pericardial space
- oblique pericardial sinus
- transverse pericardial sinus
-
pericardial recesses
- aortic recesses
- pulmonic recesses
- postcaval recess
- pulmonary venous recesses
- pericardial ligaments
- epicardial fat pad
- esophagus
- thymus
- breast
- blood supply of the thorax
- arteries
- veins
- superior vena cava (SVC)
- inferior vena cava (IVC)
-
coronary veins
- cardiac veins which drain into the coronary sinus
- great cardiac vein
- middle cardiac vein
- small cardiac vein
- posterior vein of the left ventricle
- vein of Marshall (oblique vein of the left atrium)
- anterior cardiac veins
- venae cordis minimae (smallest cardiac veins or thebesian veins)
- cardiac veins which drain into the coronary sinus
- pulmonary veins
- thoracoepigastric vein
- lymphatics
- innervation of the thorax