Atrium (heart): Difference between revisions
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==Auricular appendage== |
==Auricular appendage== |
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The word auricle was previously used as a synonym for the word atrium. However, it is rarely used today, instead usually used to as a synonym to the auricular appendage. The auricular appendage is a ear-shaped process that exists off of the main chamber. |
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===The Human Heart=== |
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In an average lifetime the heart beats roughly two billion times, and it never pauses! It provides power for life. Not much is understood about how the heart is able to continuously pump blood throughout the body to provide power for life, even though our newer technology has helped us understand much of the mystery surrounding it. The heart is the center of the body, it keeps blood flowing for heat and to provide oxygen for the brain. Even though the heart is divided into four cavities it is so dense that it needs extra veins called coronary veins to transport blood deep inside it, sometimes these vessels get blocked by either blood clots or plaque.{{Fact|date=March 2009}} |
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===Ventricles and Atria=== |
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Mainly the heart is just a shell. There are four cavities inside that fill with blood. Two are called atria and two are called ventricles. The heart is divided in half, one half holds one atria and one ventricle, while the other half holds the rest. The ventricle on the left side of the heart pumps blood for the entire body, while the one on the right side pumps blood to the lungs. Ventricles can withstand more pressure because they have thicker walls, but the left side ventricle can withstand even more because it pumps blood to the entire body. The right atrium receives, from the superior vena cava, un- oxygenated blood. It then sends the blood to the lungs to get oxygen, when the blood comes back it is sent to the left atrium and is then pumped out to the rest of the body. {{Fact|date=March 2009}} |
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===Heart Attacks=== |
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A heart attack happens when a muscle malfunctions in the heart. This illustration shows examples of a healthy artery and a clogged artery. On top the blood is flowing fine but on the bottom plaque is building up and slowing the blood flow. This is known as coronary artery disease. A similar case is coronary thrombosis and is when a blood clot is lodged in the artery instead of plaque.{{Fact|date=March 2009}} |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
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Revision as of 15:00, 20 April 2009
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In anatomy, the atrium (plural: the atria), sometimes called auricle, refers to a chamber or space. It may be the atrium of the lateral ventricle in the brain or the blood collection chamber of a heart. It has a thin-walled structure that allows blood to return to the heart. There is at least one atrium in animals with a closed circulatory system. In fish, the circulatory system is very simple: a two-chambered heart including one atrium and one ventricle. In other vertebrate groups, the circulatory system is much more complicated. Their circulatory systems are divided into two types: a three-chambered heart, with two atria and one ventricle, or a four-chambered heart, with two atria and two ventricles. The atrium receives blood as it returns to the heart to complete a circulating cycle, whereas the ventricle pumps blood out of the heart to start a new cycle.[citation needed]
Human heart
Humans have a four-chambered heart which includes the right atrium, left atrium, right ventricle, and left ventricle. The right atrium receives de-oxygenated blood from the superior vena cava, inferior vena cava and coronary sinus. The left atrium receives oxygenated blood from the left and right pulmonary veins. The atria do not have valves at their inlets. As a result, a venous pulsation is normal and can be detected in the jugular vein.[citation needed]
Internally, there is the rough musculae pectinati and crista terminalis, which acts as a boundary inside the atrium and the smooth walled part derived from the sinus venosus. There is also a fossa ovalis in the interatrial septum which is used in the fetal period as a means of bypassing the lung.
There are two atria, one on either side of the heart. On the right side is the atrium that holds blood that is deoxygenated. It sends blood to the right ventricle which sends it to the lungs for oxygen. After it comes back, it is sent to the left atrium. The blood is pumped from the left atrium and sent to the left ventricle where it is sent to the aorta which takes it to the rest of the body.
Auricular appendage
The word auricle was previously used as a synonym for the word atrium. However, it is rarely used today, instead usually used to as a synonym to the auricular appendage. The auricular appendage is a ear-shaped process that exists off of the main chamber.
See also
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