The heart, the most important organ in the body, plays a vital role in a supplying the body with all of the nutrients needed. Not only does the heart pump blood through the body, but it also carries oxygen to help the body function correctly and it allows for the removal of waste product. Because the heart is so essential to human body, its structure and function is equally as important. The heart is designed to pump blood through its chambers. The top two chambers are the left and right Atria and the bottom two chambers are the left and right Ventricles.
The chambers of the heart contract and relax like muscles. These contractions keep our blood flow constant and the cycle going. The way blood flow works is as follows: deoxygenated blood enters the heart through the right atria and then it flows through the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle. This blood is then pumped into the pulmonary artery and to the lungs in order to replenish its oxygen content. Oxygenated blood enters the left atria, flows down the bicuspid valve and into the left ventricle.
This blood is later pumped into the aorta and into the rest of the body. Each of these four chambers contains a valve which is extremely important for proper blood flow. These valves open and close to allow the blood in the heart to flow in only one direction to avoid regurgitation. Stenosis is also a major problem with heart valves and this occurs when the valve does not open properly and causes blood to not flow properly. This may cause the backup of blood, pressure in the pericardium, and an enlarged heart due to the amount of work the heart endures to pump blood through.
The Essay on Wave Of Excitation Blood Heart Atrium
... resulting pressure in this chamber forces open the flaps of the tricuspid valve. The result is that blood flows through the tricuspid opening ... a diagram of the heart showing all four chambers, and associated vessels and valves. Outline th way the heart beats and is ... form veins which the blood returns to the heart. Blood returning to the heart from all parts of the body, except the lungs, enters ...
When these heart valves start to become defective or work improperly, many serious health risks may occur. Most people with heart valve failure may encounter the following symptoms: fainting spells, shortness of breath, heart failure, dizziness, rapid heart rhythms, swelling of ankles, feet, or abdomen, rapid weight gain, or chest pain. Heart valve surgeries have been done since the late 1800’s and continued in the mid 1920’s with little success and a lot of criticism. It was not until 1960 where the first successful heart valve implant was recorded. This was ue to a major advance in surgical equipment and the cardiopulmonary bypass machine. Nowadays doctors’ repair damaged valves by performing open-heart surgery. This invasive surgery involves cutting through the chest by making an incision through the sternum and dividing the 3rd and 4th coastal ribs. Doctors would then cut the pericardium, the outer most lining of the heart, and put the patient on a heart-lung bypass machine. This machine is used to pump the blood throughout the body like the heart normally would while the heart is stopped for surgery.
These surgeries had a high risk factor because of these bypass machines and the heart not being able to start pumping on it’s own again, causing death. New and upcoming procedures involve minimal invasive surgery. These procedures can be done by having a “mini” incision on the sternum (half the size of open-heart surgery) or underneath the pectoral muscle. The most common replacement heart valves are mechanical or biological. Mechanical valves are made out of stainless steel, titanium, or ceramic, but the patient would have to take blood-thinning medicine such as aspirin to prevent blood clots.
Biological valves are made out of human or animal tissue. These replacement valves may not require blood thinners, but can only last up to 15 years. Although these minimal invasive surgeries are the newest types of heart valve replacement surgeries, Doctors are now finding a way to replace valves which involves no surgery at all. There have only been a handful of cases, and the success rate is unknown, but they are very hopefully for this procedure. Valve replacement surgeries have a high success rate and are known to prolong a patient’s life.
The Essay on Endocarditis (Heart Valve Disease)
Endocarditis is caused by a bacterial infection.In this article:What is endocarditis?SymptomsCausesDiagnosisTreatmentHow Chemist Online can helpAdvice & SupportWhat is endocarditis?Endocardium is the tissue that lines the inside of the heart chambers. With endocarditis, a bacterial infection causes the endocardium, heart muscles and valves to become inflamed. It can be a life-threatening ...
Minimal invasive surgery is fairly new to the medicine world and has helped speed the recovery time for patients and has also reduced the risk factors significantly. It is also nice to see how fast new procedures are being thought up. Hopefully Doctors find great success in the non surgical valve replacement and this will be the next step of heart surgeries. References Matrial Valve Repair. http://www. geraldlawriemd. com/sections/mitral/Sugrical_Technology_Mitral_Valve_Repair. pdf MedLine Plus.
