Diagrams Of The Human Heart

When I learned that I needed two of my heart valves replaced, I did a lot of research about the heart. As you might imagine, I became very interested to know what the human heart really looks like. Luckily, I found a number of human heart diagrams to better understand heart anatomy.

After looking at several human heart diagrams... You are immediately struck with the reality that the human heart does not really look like the traditional heart shape found on Valentine's Day cards.  It appears tilted and not perfectly symmetrical.  That said, it is an amazing organ that beats 100,000 times per day and pumps over 2,000 gallons of blood every 24 hours, according to the American Heart Association. 

As shown in the human heart diagram above, the heart has several cavities (ventricles and atrium) and valves (pulmonary, aortic, mitral, tricuspid) which move blood in-and-out of the heart. It's pretty amazing to watch blood flow through the heart. To see how blood flows through the heart using an animation, please click here. 

So you know, the diagram above is showing a side view of the heart. You can clearly see the left and right atrium as well as the left and right ventricles.  If you look closely, you can also see the aortic, mitral, pulmonary and tricuspid valves.

Top View Of The Human Heart Diagram

Here is a human heart diagram showing a top view of the heart - as if you were looking down on the heart. As shown below, this human heart diagram clearly illustrates the valves of the heart. The valves illustrated below are the pulmonary, tricuspid, aortic and mitral valve. So you know, I had the aortic and pulmonary valves of my heart replaced via the Ross Procedure.  

You Might Also Like

To help you learn more about heart valve anatomy, here are educational resources you might like: 

• Anatomy of Heart Valve Disease, Disorders & Infection
• What is a Heart Murmur?
• What is an Enlarged Heart?
• How is Heart Valve Disease Diagnosed?
• What are the Different Types of Echocardiograms?
• Free eBooks: Download 7 Educational eBooks Here
• Meet Heart Valve Patients in Our Community!

Page last updated: September 17, 2020