The right and left sides of the heart work together. The pattern
described below is repeated over and over, causing blood to flow
continuously to the heart, lungs, and body.
Right side
- Blood enters the heart through two
large veins, the inferior and superior vena cava, emptying
oxygen-poor blood from the body into the right atrium.
- As the atrium contracts, blood
flows from your right atrium into your right ventricle through the
open tricuspid valve.
- When the ventricle is full, the
tricuspid valve shuts. This prevents blood from flowing backward
into the atria while the ventricle contracts.
- As the ventricle contracts, blood leaves the heart through the
pulmonic valve, into the pulmonary artery and to the lungs where it
is oxygenated.
Left side
- The pulmonary vein empties oxygen-rich blood from the lungs
into the left atrium.
- As the atrium contracts, blood
flows from your left atrium into your left ventricle through the
open mitral valve.
- When the ventricle is full, the
mitral valve shuts. This prevents blood from flowing backward into
the atrium while the ventricle contracts.
- As the ventricle contracts, blood leaves the heart through the
aortic valve, into the aorta and to the body.
Once blood travels through the pulmonic valve, it enters your
lungs. This is called the pulmonary circulation. From your pulmonic
valve, blood travels to the pulmonary artery to tiny capillary
vessels in the lungs.
Two major coronary arteries branch off from the aorta near the
point where the aorta and the left ventricle meet:
- Right coronary artery supplies the
right atrium and right ventricle with blood. It usually branches
into the posterior descending artery, which supplies the bottom
portion of the left ventricle and back of the septum with
blood.
- Left main coronary artery branches
into the circumflex artery and the left anterior descending artery.
The circumflex artery supplies blood to the left atrium, side, and
back of the left ventricle, and the left anterior descending artery
supplies the front and bottom of the left ventricle and the front
of the septum with blood.