The normal heart is made up of a right and left side, each of which has an atrium and a ventricle. The right atrium collects blood from the body, and allows the right ventricle to eject it into the lungs to become oxygenated. In much the same way, the left atrium collects blood passively from the lungs, allowing the left ventricle to eject the oxygenated blood to the body.
Blood flows in one direction through the four chambers with the aid of the four heart valves.
These four heart valves are called the tricuspid, pulmonary, mitral, and aortic valves. Copyright 1998-2000, Pediheart. All Rights Reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced.