TRIVIA: How Much Blood Moves Through Your Heart Valves Each Hour?

August 4th, 2009

Okay… Ready for some heart anatomy trivia?

The question is, “How much blood moves through your heart valves in one hour?”

A. 5 gallons
B. 10 gallons
C. 50 gallons
D. 100 gallons
E. 500 gallons of blood

To find out the answer, scroll below the beating heart.

According to the Texas Heart Institute, your heart moves about 100 gallons of blood through your body every hour. That is pretty amazing, right?

If you didn’t know… Blood is pumped through your heart in only one direction. Each of the four heart valves play a key role in managing blood flow through your heart. Your valves – the aortic, pulmonary, tricuspid and mitral valves – open and close with each heart beat.

As the heart beats, pressure changes behind and in-front of the valves forcing them to open tissue flaps (called cusps or leaflets) at just the right time. Then, the valves close tightly to prevent a back-flow of blood, also known as regurgitation.

Congratulations if you picked answer D, 100 gallons!

Keep on tickin!

P.S. To leave a comment, click here.

About The Author: Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. This unique book integrates clinical research with the personal experiences of 135 former patients to help future patients and their caregivers better understand the problems, the opportunities and the realities of heart valve surgery. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.