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FIRST CITY PROVIDENTIAL COLLEGE
City of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan
COLLEGE OF NURSING
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
LABORATORY WORKSHEET
HEART STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
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Name: __________________________________ Score: __________________
Year & Sec: ______________________________ Date: ___________________
Surface Features of the Heart (Label the drawings below)
The heart is about the size of a fist and lies in the thoracic cavity within the mediastinum, an area
bounded by the lungs laterally, the sternum anteriorly, and the thoracic vertebrae posteriorly. The base of the
heart is the wide superior portion of the heart from which the great vessel emerge, and the apex of the heart
is the inferior pointed end. The base faces the right shoulder and the apex points to the left hip. The apex of
the heart is located in the 5th intercostal space. The human heart has four chambers and is divided into right
and left sides. Each side has an upper chamber called an atrium and a lower chamber called a ventricle.
Coronary blood vessels and adipose tissues are found in the sulci or grooves that externally mark the
boundaries between the four heart chambers. Although a considerable amount of external adipose tissue is
present on the heart surface for protection and padding, most heart models do not show this. The coronary
sulcus is a deep sulcus that externally shows the separation of the atria and the ventricles. The anterior
interventricular sulcus and posterior interventricular sulcus are shallow grooves that depict the surface
boundaries between the two ventricles.
Base of heart
Auricle of left atrium
Auricle of right atrium
Coronary sulcus Anterior interventricular
sulcus
Left Ventricle
Right Ventricle Apex of the heart
Great Vessels of the Heart (Label the drawings below)
The great vessels of the heart either return blood to the atria or carry blood away from the
ventricles. The superior vena cava, inferior vena cava, and coronary sinus return oxygenated blood to the right
atrium. The superior vena cava returns blood from the head, neck and arms; the inferior vena cava returns
blood from the body inferior to the heart; and the coronary sinus is a smaller vein that returns blood from the
coronary circulation.
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Answers:
1. Superior vena cava
2. Right pulmonary artery
3. Ascending aorta
4. Pulmonary trunk
5. Right pulmonary veins
6. Inferior vena cava
7. Aortic arch
8. Ligamentum arteriosum
9. Left pulmonary artery
10. Descending aorta
11. Left pulmonary veins
Internal Features of the Heart (Label the drawings below)
Recall that the heart’s contraction cycle follows a dual pattern of circulation—the pulmonary
(lungs)and systemic (body) circuits—because of the pairs of chambers that pump blood into the circulation. In
order to develop a more precise understanding of cardiac function, it is first necessary to explore the internal
anatomical structures in more detail.
The word septum is derived from the Latin for “something that encloses;” in this case, a septum (plural =
septa) refers to a wall or partition that divides the heart into chambers.
Valves of the Heart: the septum between the atria and ventricles is known as the atrioventricular septum. It is
marked by the presence of four openings that allow blood to move from the atria into the ventricles and from
the ventricles into the pulmonary trunk and aorta. Located in each of these openings between the atria and
ventricles is a valve, a specialized structure that ensures one-way flow of blood. The valves between the atria
and ventricles are known generically as the tricuspid (right side) and the bicuspid (left side) valve. The valves at
the openings that lead to the pulmonary trunk and aorta are known generically as the pulmonary and
the aortic valve
Answers:
1. Superior vena cava opening
2. Pulmonary valve
3. Right atrium
4. Coronary sinus opening
5. Inferior vena cava
6. Tricuspid valve
7. Right ventricle
8. Trabeculae carneae
9. Left pulmonary vein openings
10. Left atrium
11. Aortic valve
12. Mitral valve
13. Chordae tendineae
14. Interventricular septum
15. Papillary muscle
16. Left ventricle
Systemic and Pulmonary Circulation
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Pulmonary circulation is the movement of blood from the heart to the lungs for oxygenation, then back to the
heart again. Oxygen-depleted blood from the body leaves the systemic circulation when it enters the right
atrium through the superior and inferior venae cavae. The blood is then pumped through the tricuspid valve
into the right ventricle. From the right ventricle, blood is pumped through the pulmonary valve and into the
pulmonary artery. The pulmonary artery splits into the right and left pulmonary arteries and travel to each
lung.
At the lungs, the blood travels through capillary beds on the alveoli where gas exchange occurs, removing
carbon dioxide and adding oxygen to the blood. Gas exchange occurs due to gas partial pressure gradients
across the the alveoli of the lungs and the capillaries interwoven in the alveoli. The oxygenated blood then
leaves the lungs through pulmonary veins, which returns it to the left atrium, completing the pulmonary
circuit. As the pulmonary circuit ends, the systemic circuit begins.
Systemic circulation is the movement of blood from the heart through the body to provide oxygen and
nutrients to the tissues of the body while bringing deoxygenated blood back to the heart. Oxygenated blood
enters the left atrium from the pulmonary veins. The blood is then pumped through the mitral valve into the
left ventricle. From the left ventricle, blood is pumped through the aortic valve and into the aorta, the body’s
largest artery. The aorta arches and branches into major arteries to the upper body before passing through
the diaphragm, where it branches further into the illiac, renal, and suprarenal arteries which supply the lower
parts of the body.
The arteries branch into smaller arteries, arterioles, and finally capillaries. Gas and nutrient exchange with the
tissues occurs within the capillaries that run through the tissues. Metabolic waste and carbon dioxide diffuse
out of the cell into the blood, while oxygen and glucose in the blood diffuses out of the blood and into the cell.
Systemic circulation keeps the metabolism of every organ and every tissue in the body alive, with the
exception of the parenchyma of the lungs, which are supplied by pulmonary circulation.
The deoxygenated blood continues through the capillaries which merge into venules, then veins, and finally
the venae cavae, which drain into the right atrium of the heart. From the right atrium, the blood will travel
through the pulmonary circulation to be oxygenated before returning gain to the system circulation,
completing the cycle of circulation through the body. The arterial component of systemic circulation the
highest blood pressures in the body. The venous component of systemic circulation has considerably lower
blood pressure in comparison, due to their distance from the heart, but contain semi-lunar valves to
compensate. Systemic circulation as a whole is a higher pressure system than pulmonary circulation simply
because systemic circulation must force greater volumes of blood farther through the body compared to
pulmonary circulation.
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Place the following structures in order, tracing the blood flow from the superior vena cava to the heart, to
the pulmonary circulation, and out of the heart to the systemic circulation. Start with superior vena cava as
number 1.
Aorta Pulmonary capillaries Pulmonary valve
Aortic valve Right atrium Pulmonary veins
Bicuspid valve Right ventricle Superior vena cava
Left atrium Pulmonary arteries Tricuspid valve
Left ventricle Pulmonary trunk
Answers:
1. Superior vena cava
2. Right Atrium
3. Tricuspid valve
4. Right ventricle
5. Pulmonary valve
6. Pulmonary trunk
7. Pulmonary arteries
8. Pulmonary capillaries
9. Pulmonary vein
10. Left atrium
11. Bicuspid valve
12. Left ventricle
13. Aortic valve
14. Aorta
