The heart - anatomy of our life pump

Have you ever experienced the moment when an operation opens the chest and reveals the shimmering surface of the heart? Big as a fist, it pumps the blood through your veins full of action and keeps you alive. And the heart and its anatomy unfold a fascinating beauty.

You can bring this indescribable look of the surgeon to your home with a drawing of Cursus anatomicus. You can see a frontal view of the anatomy of the heart in great detail, just as the surgical team experiences it. With a flyweight of just 300 grams, the heart is on duty around the clock and beats around three billion times in our lives.

In the adult, the healthy heart is up to twelve centimeters long, about eight centimeters thick at its widest point, and six centimeters deep. Protected by the connective tissue pericardium, the heart lies in the mediastinum in the middle of the chest. It is firmly attached to the diaphragm at the bottom. It is surrounded on the right and left by the two lungs, against which it can move freely and is separated by the pleura.

The largest vessels in the body, which are as thick as a garden hose, branch off at the sides and upwards. The aorta and pulmonary artery leave the heart. The pulmonary veins and vena cava drain into the heart.

The vessels and the heart form a closed circuit. The left ventricle pumps blood into the aorta. From there it flows into all organs and tissues to supply them with vital oxygen.

The oxygen-poor and carbon dioxide-enriched blood flows back into the right atrium, from there into the right ventricle, and then into the lungs. There it is again enriched with oxygen and carbon dioxide is exhaled. The blood then continues into the left atrium and left ventricle, where it all starts again.

Heart anatomy: A muscle that keeps us alive

Most of the heart's mass is muscle. At first glance, the anatomy of the heart appears to be quite simply distributed. The heart is divided into a right and left half, each containing a ventricle and an atrium. In total, that makes four heart cavities.

But the muscles are much more than a shell: they are made up of several layers that form a loop and form a circle from the base of the heart to the apex of the heart.

Through the delicate cooperation of the muscles, the heart manages to contract and eject blood. A drawing like our Heart Overview , whether in a vintage look or the black and white chalk edition, shows the beauty of the heart's anatomy in a very special light. Sit down, take a break and enjoy the elegance of our life pump - while deep inside you it continues to do its work without a break and gives you life.

How fast the heart beats depends on age. In adults, it is about 60 to 80 beats per minute at rest, in babies about 150. In a healthy person, the entire volume of blood is pumped through the body once every minute, in adults around five liters.

But not only the human heart anatomy achieves this masterpiece day in and day out! While the heart of a mouse can only be heard ticking at a rate of 600 beats per minute, a diving blue whale can eject up to 5000 liters at two beats per minute!

Behind the scenes: What does it look like under the heart muscle?

The heart section drawing available from us even reveals the inside of our miraculous organ. The heart valves are located between the atria and ventricles as well as between the ventricles and the vessels connected to them. The valves are the valves of the heart and ensure that the blood flows in the right direction and not back where it shouldn't.

Nevertheless, this can sometimes happen: heart valve defects and congenital heart defects are among the most common heart diseases. If the valves leak, blood flows back in the wrong direction. If the valves are stuck, calcified or overgrown, the path for the blood is too narrow. This can result in dizziness and shortness of breath.

In addition, valve defects are exhausting for the heart! The muscles can thicken or wear out over time. But even if the heart can change its anatomy, it is always there for you.

While the heart, as the body's motor, supplies all other organs, its own blood supply is quite inconspicuous. The heart muscle is supplied by the coronary arteries, also known as the coronary arteries. They arise directly from the beginning of the aorta and divide into three large branches.

However, these inconspicuous parts of the heart's anatomy play an important role. If the coronary arteries narrow, there is a risk of a heart attack.

Invisible in our drawing, but essential for the complete package, are the nerves of the heart. The pacemaker of the heart is a nerve plexus called the sinus node. It sets the pace and transmits it via nerve cords to the AV node, which transmits the excitation to the heart chambers. In this way, the coordinated information that enables an orderly beating of the heart muscle reaches all muscle cells.

In fact, the nervous system of the heart is so special that it holds another surprise: it also works on its own! Even if the heart were removed from the body, it could (given oxygen and nutrients) continue beating all by itself for a while!

So if! For the time being, however, we only removed the heart from the body by drawing. So that you can marvel at the fascinating anatomy of the heart on your own wall every day.