Video: Right ventricle

Hey, everyone! It’s Matt from Kenhub, and in this tutorial, we will discuss the right ventricle. The cardiac ventricles are the two lower chambers of the heart quadrants. They are larger and more apically narrowed than the atria. Collecting the blood that flows into them from the atria, they then contract and force the accumulated blood volume out into the peripheral tissues via the major vessels.

The right ventricle collects deoxygenated blood from the right atrium as the tricuspid valve relaxes and pumps it via rhythmic contractions through the pulmonary valve and its roof and into the pulmonary trunk which passes the blood into the pulmonary artery and into the lungs. It is bordered anterosuperiorly by the sternum, and this circular convexed area majorly contributes to the sternocostal surface of the heart. The inferior surface is situated upon the diaphragm and this small flat area makes up part of the diaphragmatic portion of the heart. The ventricular septum borders the right ventricle posteriorly and bulges somewhat into it creating a transverse semi-lunar cross-section.

The conus arteriosus, conical arterial pouch or infundibulum of the heart, can be found in the upper left corner of the ventricle and gives rise to the pulmonary artery. The tendon of the conus arteriosus is a fibrous band that extends superiorly from the right atrioventricular fibrous ring and stretches between the posterior surface of the conus arteriosus and the aorta.

The right ventricular wall is 3-6 times thinner than the left because it starts off thicker and reduces en masse towards the apex. Despite this difference in muscle mass, the inner chambers of the ventricles are the same size and can contain approximately 85 mL of blood in adults.