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Papillary muscles

Dr Yuranga Weerakkody ◉ and Assoc Prof Craig Hacking ◉ ◈ et al.

The papillary muscles are thick bands and ridges of endocardial-lined myocardium that project into the lumen of the cardiac ventricles. They essentially represent dominant ventricular trabeculae which attach to the cusps of the atrioventricular valves via the chordae tendineae. During systole, they contract to close atrioventricular valves and prevent the valves from prolapsing.

The right ventricle has 3 papillary muscles that attach to the cusps of the tricuspid valve:

the anterior papillary muscle attaches to the chordae tendineae of the anterior and posterior cusps
the posterior papillary muscle attaches to the chordae tendineae of the posterior and septal cusps
the septal papillary muscle attaches to the chordae tendineae of the anterior and septal cusps

Within the anterior papillary muscle, there is a prominent band that extends from the interventricular septum that contains the right bundle branch, known as the septomarginal trabecula or moderator band.

The left ventricle has 2 papillary muscles that attach to the cusps of the mitral valve:

anterior papillary muscle attaches to the chordae tendineae of the anterior and posterior cusps
posterior papillary muscle attaches to the chordae tendineae of the anterior and posterior cusps

Related pathology

papillary muscle calcification

References

Anatomy: Thoracic

Anatomy: Thoracic

thoracic skeleton
- thoracic cage
  - ribs
    - typical ribs
    - atypical ribs
    - variant anatomy
  - costal cartilage
  - sternum
- thoracic spine
- articulations
muscles of the thorax
spaces of the thorax
thoracic viscera
- tracheobronchial tree
  - trachea
- lungs
- heart
  - cardiac chambers
  - heart valves
  - pectinate muscles
  - cardiac fibrous skeleton
    - aortic annulus
  - 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
    - foramen ovale
  - atrial septum
    - fossa ovale
  - endocardium
  - myocardium
  - pericardium
    - epicardium
    - epicardial fat pad
    - pericardial space
      - oblique pericardial sinus
      - transverse pericardial sinus
      - pericardial recesses
        
        aortic recesses
        
        superior aortic recess
        
        inferior aortic recess
        
        pulmonic recesses
        
        right pulmonic recess
        
        left pulmonic recess
        
        postcaval recess
        
        pulmonary venous recesses
        
        right pulmonary venous recess
        
        left pulmonary venous recess
    - pericardial ligaments
- esophagus
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- thymus
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  - lymphatic drainage
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    - supranumerary nipple (polythelia)
    - accessory breast tissue (polymastia)
    - breast hypoplasia
    - amastia
    - amazia
blood supply of the thorax
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  - thoracic aorta (development)
  - pulmonary trunk
    - left pulmonary artery
      - aberrant left pulmonary artery
    - right pulmonary artery
- veins
  - superior vena cava (SVC)
    - superior cavoatrial junction
    - variant anatomy
  - inferior vena cava (IVC)
    - inferior cavoatrial junction
  - coronary veins
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      - 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)
  - pulmonary veins
    - bronchial veins
  - thoracoepigastric vein
lymphatics
innervation of the thorax

Article information

rID: 49584

System: Cardiac

Section: Anatomy

Synonyms or Alternate Spellings:

Papillary muscle

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