Anatomy of The Human Heart
This is a nice, anterior, picture of the human heart
The picture to the left, is a posterior view of the human heart (What the Heart looks like from behind). The Picture to the right illustrates how blood flows through the heart. Notice that deoxygenated blood flows through the right side of the heart to the Lungs, while the oxygenated blood from the lungs is pumped to the body from the left side of the heart.
This pictures shows how the coronary arteries originate from the ascending aorta to supply the heart with oxygenated blood. The demand for fresh, oxygenated blood is substantial for the heart. Like brain cells, the cells that work collectively to form the structure of the heart will not live for very long (respirate anaerobically) without oxygen. Coronary artery disease (CAD) results from occluded coronary arteries. The heart becomes starved for oxygen and other nutrients, and eventually stops beating. A coronary artery bypass graft operation (CABG) is performed by attaching a vein taken from the individual's leg to the ascending aorta. The other end of the vein is grafted so as to increase the flow of blood to the heart by substituting for the clogged coronary artery.
Valve Defects are also comon reasons for Cardiac Surgery. The valves most often replaced during surgery are: the mitral valve (connects the left chambers of the heart), the tricuspid valve (connects the right chambers of the heart), or the aortic valve (which opens to allow blood pumped from the left ventrical to enter the aorta and supply the whole body with oxygenated blood and nutrients.
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