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Take Heart
In this lab, you will examine a human heart model, and a real sheep heart. This is best to do a comparison, because some parts will be more obvious on one than the other. We will also view a real human heart later in this exercise. Instructions for the sheep heart will be written in italics. First lets try to determine the anterior of the sheep heart vs. the posterior of the sheep heart, so that we can compare this heart directly with the heart model. Look for two rubbery looking tubes coming from the top of the heart (the top part is opposite the pointed end). These thick tubes are the major arteries of the heart. The arteries will be discussed shortly. Since the arteries of the heart arise from the anterior region, we can assume that we are now looking at the anterior of the sheep heart. can find the groove between the atria and ventricles. Dont worry if it is not too clearly demarcated because there is a lot of fat in this region on the sheep heart. Now look for blood vessels running between the ventricles. This is the interventricular groove, marking the location of the interventricular septum. The septum will be clear when we dissect the heart. On the right side of the heart, you see two large blue veins entering the blue part of the heart, one coming from the top and one coming from the bottom. The top vein has two small branches projecting from it (the right and left brachiocephalic veins). The bottom vein at the base of the heart is represented as a round blue disk. These veins are the Superior and Inferior vena cava. The blue part of the heart they enter into is called the right atrium. Note the little serrated flap on the margin of the right atrium. This is the right auricle (literally, the ears of the heart. There is little resemblance to an ear unless you have had far too much wine). The reason the right atrium on this model is blue is to remind you that the right atrium receives and pumps deoxygenated blood. So structures that carry deoxygenated blood are blue in this model; structures that carry oxygenated blood are red or orange, with one exception. Both of the ventricles are dark red. Recall that the ventricles make the bulk of the body of the heart. The right ventricle pumps deoxygenated blood and the left ventricle pumps oxygenated blood, but they are not color coded so youll have to remember. Note that the right ventricle lies just below the right atrium. The right ventricle also receives and pumps deoxygenated blood, which is noted by the color of the artery that ascends from it. Lets examine that artery now. Alas, the superior and inferior vena cava have been cut very close in the sheep heart so they are tough, if not impossible, to find. Forget about the brachiocephalic veins. Theyre gone. The only vena cave that can typically be seen is the superior vena cave. You wont find a vessel per see, but more likely a hole. The hole is on the posterior right side of the heart and is sometimes lined by a thin tube. The inferior vena cava is usually buried by fat. Sometimes you can find it using a probe from the inside of the right atrium,

Heart Model Exterior

On first inspection of the heart, you will see that the structure is divided into three regions delineated by colors. There is a blue region, an orange region, and a large, dark red region. The blue and orange regions make a blunt end (the base of the heart). The red region forms a cone; the point of the cone is called the apex. The heart also has two grooves. The first groove well examine separates the top pumps (blue and orange) from the bottom pumps (dark red). The top pumps are called the atria and the bottom pumps are called the ventricles. The name of the groove that separates the top and bottom pumps is the atrioventricular groove. It marks the periphery of the cardiac skeleton, a flat piece of connective tissue that houses the heart valves (described later) and separates the muscular atria from the muscular ventricles. The second groove is the interventricular sulcus, which holds blood vessels and lies between the two ventricles. It also marks the region of the interventricular septum, the wall that separates the two ventricles. Again, we will view this more closely in due time. Now see what you can find on the sheep heart. Find the atria and the ventricles. The atria will be dark, flat muscular flaps on the superior surface of the heart; the ventricles will come down and make a cone (the apex). See if you

2 but often you wind up making a hole that wasnt there to begin with. Its not worth messing with. Unlike the cryptic vena cava, the auricles will be better seen on the sheep heart than on the model. Auricles refer to the ear-like flaps of the atria. Rising out of the right ventricle is a large blue vessel, the pulmonary trunk. The pulmonary trunk is actually an artery, even though its blue. Why? Because arteries send blood away from the heart and veins send blood to the heart. Arteries leave the ventricles and veins enter the atria. Make a special note that the pulmonary circuit (the blood going to the lungs and back) is the only place in the body where the veins are red and arteries are blue. Lets find those vessels now. The sheep heart is not color coded, but we can find the pulmonary trunk anyway. Remember the thick rubbery vessels that we found on the anterior of the sheep heart? The most anterior of these is the pulmonary trunk. The rubbery artery that rests behind the pulmonary trunk is the aorta. Well discuss the aorta shortly. Branching from the pulmonary trunk are the pulmonary arteries. They send blood directly to the lungs. In the lungs, the blood is oxygenated, which means its going to return to the heart in red vessels. Examine the back of the heart and find four vessels entering a large orange structure. Two are paired on the right side of the orange structure (left atrium) and two are paired on the left side. These are the pulmonary veins. Remember, the pulmonary veins are red because the pulmonary circuit is bass-ackwards from the systemic circuit, the circuit, which sends blood everywhere else in the body except the lungs. The pulmonary veins drain into the left atrium. Note the auricle on the left atrium as well. You wont find the pulmonary arteries on the sheep heart because the heart has been cropped too closely. You can probably find holes for at least some of the four pulmonary veins. You will find the holes of the pulmonary veins at the left posterior region of the heart. Recall that the superior vena cava is on the right side. Below the left atrium lies the large left ventricle. Coming out of the left ventricle is a large red arch-shaped vessel, the aorta. The part of the aorta that rises from the left ventricle is the ascending aorta. This forms the aortic arch, and then descends to form the descending aorta. Remember, the aorta is going to rest behind the pulmonary trunk. You will not see the arch, but you can locate the aorta by its position. Now notice the little white connection on the aortic arch that extends to the pulmonary trunk. This is the ligamentum arteriosum. This connective tissue was once a small artery. Before you were born, it provided a passage for blood from the left and right sides of the heart, allowing them to mix. Because you were getting all the oxygen you needed from Mom, you did not send much blood to the lungs, so shunting blood from the pulmonary circuit to the systemic circuit was essential. Once the lungs became functional, this little artery became a liability. As such, it was destined to shrivel into a little connection, serving no more purpose than to help hold the great arteries in the proper place. We cant see ligamentum arteriosum on the sheep heart. Its usually destroyed. Lets look at the vessels jutting out of the top of the aortic arch. The vessel furthest to the right is the brachiocephalic artery. We only have one, unlike the brachiocephalic veins which are paired. The brachiocephalic artery will branch into the right common carotid and the right subclavian arteries. They are not shown on the model, but you will see the illustrated in your text (Martini, figure 22.12, page 584). To the left of the brachiocephalic artery and in the center of the arch stands the left common carotid artery; to the left of the left common carotid artery stands the left subclavian artery. Common carotid arteries supply blood to the head and neck; subclavian arteries supply blood to the arms. We cant see any of this on the sheep either. Now look for a red vessel on the lower part of the aortic arch that joins the aorta and travels out to the right side of the heart coursing between the right atrium and the right ventricle. This is the right coronary artery. The lowest branch of the coronary artery on your model is the marginal artery. The

3 superior branches will remain unnamed, as there are many variations here. In general, the right coronary artery and its branches supply the right side of the heart muscle itself with blood. Now examine the lower left corner of the aorta just as it passes under the pulmonary trunk. There is a short red vessel here that branches into an upside-down Y. This short vessel (about an inch long on your model) is the left coronary artery. The left branch of this vessel is the circumflex artery; the descending branch of the short left coronary artery is the anterior interventricular artery. The circumflex artery provides blood to the left heart muscle; the anterior interventricular artery provides blood for the interventricular septum, the wall between the two ventricles. There is a slight depression here where the interventricular artery travels, which is called the interventricular groove. You might be able to see the interventricular artery and corresponding great cardiac vein on the anterior of the sheep heart, but the rest of the vessels will be covered with fat and impossible to view. Dissection is also very difficult because the vessels may be in the fat as well as under it. No vascular system would be complete without veins. Just as the heart muscle has arteries that bring blood to it, the hearts veins return blood from the heart back to the systemic circuit. As you might suspect, venous blood from the heart drains into the right atrium. Look at the base of the heart and find the large bulky blue vein in the atrioventricular groove. This is the coronary sinus. All blood from the heart muscle ultimately drains into the coronary sinus. To the right side of the coronary sinus is a large vein called the great cardiac vein. This vein originates in the anterior interventricular sulcus and courses along the left side of the heart following the circumflex artery. (Note that when you turn the heart over, the left side becomes the right side. This is why when we speak of left and right on the heart, we normally are speaking of the heart in anatomical position, with the aorta and pulmonary trunk in front and the vena cava and pulmonary veins in the back. When you flip the heart over, you are seeing the reverse of anatomical position, but the left atrium is still the left atrium, the right ventricle is still the right ventricle and so on). Now return to the coronary sinus. Keeping reverse anatomical position in mind, note that on the left side of the coronary sinus is a small vein called the small cardiac vein that delivers blood from the right side of the heart. It originates in the region of the marginal artery and right coronary artery. Needles to say, the vein is small compared with the great cardiac vein. A middle cardiac vein joins the great and small cardiac veins rising from the posterior interventricular sulcus. The three veins together form a short, awkward looking T with the coronary sinus at the junction. You wont see much of the above on the sheep heart.

Dissecting the Sheep Heart

Now you are ready to cut the heart open. Cut it so that you divide the heart into two halves. You should wind up with a frontal section and a posterior section (via a frontal plane). To achieve this, cut through the middle of each atrium, and then cut downward through the ventricles. The aorta and pulmonary trunk should both be on one side of your incision; the backside of your incision should have only the veins. Remember, you can distinguish veins from arteries because veins have thin walls. Again, veins may not initially be obvious on your sheep heart.

Heart Model Interior

Now its time to open the heart and reveal the interior. Open the doors on your model and look at the interior of the blue chamber. Remember, the blue chamber is the right atrium. On the door are little slits which represent the muscle of the right atrium. These are the pectinate muscles. Pectinate literally means comb. Since were here, notice the entry points for the superior and inferior vena cava within the right atrium. These will be two blue disks that are located on the roof and base of the interior right atrium respectively. Note, too, the point of entry for the coronary sinus. This is a small blue disk toward the upper base of the right atrium. On some models, there is a red dot inside of the blue disk. On some models, the fossa ovale is also evident. The fossa ovale is usually depicted as a little whitecolored depression that depicts where the thin connective tissue that separates the left and right atria rests. In the fetal heart, there is a hole here,

4 the foramen ovale, but once we begin breathing atmospheric air, a flap of connective tissue closes the hole and eventually fuses to the wall of the atrial septum. In the adult, this whitish connective tissue disk that forms from the flaps closure is called the fossa ovalis. It is most visible in the medial aspect of the right atrium. The pectinate muscles are the little folds that rest on the interior of the atria. Sometimes it is possible to find the fossa ovalis working lateral to medial beginning from the right side. It is a circle flap of tissue deep within the septum between the two atria. Now drop into the right ventricle. You do this by passing through one of the atrioventricular valves, the tricuspid valve. The tricuspid valve has three connective tissue flaps that close when the right ventricle is contracting. They remain open when the ventricle is relaxing and when the right atrium is contracting. Tiny white cords drop down from the cusps and attach to the wall of the right ventricle. These cords are called the chordae tendineae (literally the tendon-like cords). The chordae tendineae attach to the wall of the right ventricle via finger-like muscles, the papillary muscles. Papillary muscles keep the cusps from opening backwards when the ventricles contract. Other meaty muscles in the interior of the right ventricle are the trabeculae carneae. The best way you can tell the trabeculae carneae from the papillary muscles is that the trabeculae carneae lack the chordae tendineae. The tricuspid value is going to be on the right side of the heart associated with the right ventricle. You can tell right from left very easily because the left ventricle will have an outer rim of thick muscle while the right ventricle will have thinner muscle. Typically, the chamber of the right ventricle is smaller. The tricuspid valve will appear as flaps of tissue connected by long cords, the chordae tendineae. The chordae tendineae connect inferiorly to the large papillary muscle. Any muscular folds within the ventricles that are not associated with chordae tendineae are the trabeculae carnae muscles. Now find the entrance to the pulmonary trunk. You will see three white pie-shaped regions locked together within a blue circle. This is the pulmonary semi-lunar valve. This valve prevents the back flow of blood from the pulmonary trunk back into the right ventricle. Its going to be hard to find this on the sheep because chances are you cut through the aorta and the pulmonary trunk rests in front of it. I can help you with a dissection if you like, but well see the semilunar valves later on the aorta. A little patience may apply here. Now drop into the left ventricle. You do this by passing though the second atrioventricular valve, the bicuspid or mitral valve. Unlike the tricuspid, the bicuspid has two connective tissue flaps. The term mitral which is often used to describe the bicuspid, comes from miter, the headpiece a bishop wears. Note the chordae tendineae and the papillary muscles associated with this valve. Note also the trabeculae carneae found within the left ventricle. The bicuspid or mitral valve is similar in appearance to the tricuspid valve, but it is on the left side of the heart. Recall that the left side has thicker muscle. The remaining structures will appear identical to those associated with the tricuspid valve. Now find the entrance to the aorta within the left ventricle. You will see three white pie-shaped regions locked together to form a larger red circle. You are looking at the aortic semilunar valve. This valve prevents the back flow of blood from the aorta into the left ventricle. Notice too, the wall between the left and right ventricle. This is the interventricular septum. The interventricular groove marks the region of the interventricular septum on the external heart. Look for the aorta and find one or two little shallow folds of tissue in its superior region just before it leaves the left ventricle. This structure is part of the aortic semilunar valves. Another structure thats easy to find is the interventricular septum. It is simply the thick fleshy wall of tissue between the chambers of the left and right ventricles.

Sheep Heart Summary Sheet Sheep Heart Exterior

Superior vena cava Inferior vena cava? Pulmonary veins Right and left atrium Right and left ventricle Aorta and aortic arch Pulmonary trunk Base and apex Interventricular sulcus Left and right auricles

Heart model summary continued Apex Base Cardiac skeleton (illustration, Martini, page 559) Atrioventricular groove Interventricular sulcus Brachiocephalic veins Superior vena cava Inferior vena cava Pulmonary trunk Pulmonary arteries Acending aorta Descending aorta Aortic arch Ligamentum arteriosum Brachiocephalic artery Right common catrotid artery (illustration) Right subclavuian artery (illustration) Right subclavian vein (illustration in text) Left common carotid Left subclavian artery Left subclavian vein (illustration) Right coronary artery left coronary artery marginal artery circumflex artery

Sheep Heart Interior

Pulmonary trunk Right and left atrium Right and left ventricles Pulmonary and aortic semi-lunar valves Papillary muscles Interventricular septum Trabeculae carneae Pectinate muscles Bicuspid (mitral) and tricuspid valves Chordae tendineae Heart model summary great cardiac vein middle cardiac vein small cardiac vein coronary sinus pectinate muscles fossa ovale pulmonary semilunar valve aortic semilunar valve pulmonary vs sysnetimic circuits See Martini, figure 22.9, page 581 General heart anatomy: Martini, figure 21.5 and 21.6, pages 555 & 557.