Heart

A muscular pump that circulates the blood. An adult human heart weighs between 200 and 425 grams (7 and 15 ounces) and is slightly larger than a fist. In an average lifetime, a person's heart may beat more than 3.5 billion times. Each day, the average heart beats 100,000 times, pumping about 7,600 liters (2,000 gallons) of blood.

Location of the heart The heart is located between the lungs in the middle of the chest, behind and slightly to the left of the sternum(breastbone) and in front of the spine. Because the heart is not central, but lies to the left of the center line, the heart beat is best felt on the left side of the chest. To make room for it, the left lung is rather smaller than the left.

Pericardium A double-layered membrane called the pericardiumsurrounds the heart like a sac. The outer layer of the pericardium surrounds the roots of the heart's major blood vessels and is attached by ligaments to the spinal column, diaphragm, and other parts of the body. The inner layer of the pericardium is attached to the heart muscle. A coating of fluid separates the two layers of membrane, letting the heart move as it beats, yet still be attached to the body.

Layers of the heart wall Three layers of tissue form the heart wall. The outer layer of the heart wall is the epicardium, the middle layer is the myocardium, and the inner layer is theendocardium. The walls of the heart are largely made from myocardium, which is a special kind of muscle tissue. This muscle is so constructed that it is able to perform the 60 to 70 contractions which the healthy adult human heart undergoes every minute. On the inside this muscle is provided with a lining of flat cells called the endocardium, which is direct contact with the blood within the heart.

Chambers of the heart The human heart has four chambers. The upper chambers are called the left and right atria, and the lower chambers are called the left and right ventricles. A wall of muscle called the septum separates the left and right atria and the left and right ventricles. The two atria are thin-walled chambers that receive blood from the veins: the right atrium receives deoxygenated blood from systemic veins, while the left atrium receives oxygenated blood from the pulmonary veins. The two ventricles are thick-walled chambers that forcefully pump blood out of the heart. Differences in thickness of the heart chamber walls are due to variations in the amount of myocardium present, which reflects the amount of force each chamber is required to generate. The left ventricle is the largest and strongest chamber. The left ventricle's chamber walls are only about a halfinch thick, but they have enough force to push blood through the aortic valve and into the body.

The heart valves The heart has two types of valves that keep the blood flowing in the correct direction. The valves between the atria and ventricles are called atrioventricular valves (also called cuspid valves), while those at the bases of the large vessels leaving the ventricles are called semilunar valves. The right atrioventricular valve is the tricuspid valve. The left atrioventricular valve is the mitral valve (also called the bicuspid valve). The valve between the right ventricle and pulmonary trunk is the pulmonary valve. The valve between the left ventricle and the aorta is the aortic valve. Both the pulmonary and aortic valves are semilunar valves When the ventricles contract, atrioventricular valves close to prevent blood from flowing back into the atria. When the ventricles relax, semilunar valves close to prevent blood from flowing back into the ventricles.

To summarize:

The tricuspid valve regulates blood flow between the right atrium and right ventricle The pulmonary valve controls blood flow from the right ventricle into the pulmonary arteries, which carry blood to the lungs to pick up oxygen

The mitral valve lets oxygen-rich blood from the lungs pass from the left atrium into the left ventricle

The aortic valve opens the way for oxygen-rich blood to pass from the left ventricle into the aorta, the body's largest artery, where it is delivered to the rest of your body

THE HEART

Pericardium
The serous membrane (covering membrane) which, in humans and other vertebrates, forms the wall of the pericardial and holds the heart in place. The pericardium is made of two thin layers of tissue.

Visceral pericardium (epicardium) Immediately surrounding the heart, and attached to it, is the visceral pericardium, or epicardium. The heart can slide easily on the visceral pericardium, thus allowing it to beat freely. The visceral pericardium has an external layer of flat mesothelial cells, which lies on a stroma of fibrocollagenous support tissue. This support tissue contains elastic fibers, as well as the large arteries supplying blood to the heart wall, and the larger venous tributaries carrying blood from the heart wall.

Parietal pericardium The outer layer of the perocardium, called the parietal pericardium, consists of an outer layer of strong, thick connective tissue (called the fibrous pericardium) and an inner serous layer (the serous pericardium). The fibrous layer of the parietal pericardium is attached to the diaphragm and fuses with the outer wall of the great blood vessels entering and leaving the heart. Thus, the parietal pericardium forms a strong protective sac for the heart and serves also to anchor it within themediastinum. The serous layer of the parietal pericardium, composed largely of mesothelium together with a little connective tissue, forms a simple squamous epithelium and secretes a small amount of fluid (normally about 25 to 35 ml), which keeps the two layers of pericardium from rubbing against each other and causing friction during the heart's muscle contractions. At the top of the heart the visceral layer folds over to join the parietal layer. This fold is called the reflexion of the pericardium.