Understanding Blood Flow in the Heart

Welcome back to the EasyMed channel where medical and science topics are made easy. Every EasyMed video comes with notes and an EasyMed blog that correlates with the video, all found on the EasyMed website, easymedlearning.com, linked down below in the description. So if you don't want to miss out on all this free material that will save you time in studying and help you throughout your career, make sure to subscribe to the channel. In this video today, we're going to be talking about the blood flow through the heart. We've got some simple tricks that will help you remember the material. By the end of this video, you'll be able to label this entire diagram. We're also going to be using this diagram today to walk through the blood flow of the heart step by step. You might remember in the last EasyMed video, we used the same diagram to learn the anatomy of the heart. By the end of that video, we were able to label all the main cardiac structures shown here. We simplified the anatomy of the heart using this cartoon image and 2x2 table. That video is full of tricks and ways to remember the names and anatomical features of the main cardiac structures. So I highly encourage you check out the video. It'll be linked down below in the description. That will teach you the anatomy of the heart and now we're going to walk through the blood flow through those structures. The easiest way to go about this is to divide the heart into two sides. First we have the right side shown in blue. There are six main steps or six main structures in which blood flows through the right side of the heart. Then we have the left side shown in red. Same thing here. There are six main steps or six main structures in which blood flows through the left side of the heart. We're going to walk through these 12 steps one by one. And just like we did in the last video about the anatomy of the heart, we're going to first start off with this cartoon image and then we'll go back to the original diagrams to bring it all together. One of the first things you'll notice if you take a look at the 12 steps as a whole is that the pattern between the right and left side of the heart is similar. Steps 1 and 6 involve a blood vessel and this makes sense because that's how blood enters and exits that side of the heart. Steps 2 through 5 go chamber, valve, chamber, valve. So if you remember this general pattern, This will help you remember the order in which blood flows through each side of the heart. Let's now walk through these 12 steps starting with the right side of the heart. The first step is the superior vena cava and inferior vena cava. These are the main blood vessels that carry the deoxygenated venous blood from the rest of the body to the right side of the heart, specifically the right atrium. The superior vena cava is located superiorly and it carries the deoxygenated venous blood from the upper body to the right atrium. The inferior vena cava is located inferiorly and it carries the deoxygenated venous blood from the lower body to the right atrium. And this brings us to step two, which is the right atrium. The right atrium is the first chamber of the heart in which the deoxygenated blood from the rest of the body enters. Blood will then flow from the right atrium to another chamber known as the right ventricle. This occurs during diastole when the heart is at rest and filling with blood. There's a previous EasyMed video where we talk about the cardiac cycle along with diastole and systole and how the pressures in the heart change. That video will be linked down below in the description so feel free to go check it out. Now going back to those steps you may have noticed that we skipped the third one. As blood flows from the right atrium to the right ventricle it travels through a valve known as the tricuspid valve. So let's recap this so far. Step one was the superior vena cava and inferior vena cava. They were the blood vessels that carried the deoxygenated blood from the rest of the body to the right atrium which is step number two. Blood then flows from the right atrium through the tricuspid valve which is step number three. and enters another chamber of the heart known as the right ventricle which is step four. During systole when the heart is squeezing and contracting it pumps blood forward from the right ventricle to the main pulmonary artery or pulmonary trunk. As blood flows from the right ventricle to the main pulmonary artery it travels through another valve known as the pulmonary valve. So the pulmonary valve is step number five and the main pulmonary artery is step number six. The function of the main pulmonary artery is to then carry the deoxygenated blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs to become oxygenated. It does so using the right and left pulmonary arteries, which we'll see some better pictures of coming up. So the main goal of the right side of the heart is to pump the deoxygenated blood it receives from the rest of the body to the lungs to become oxygenated. An easy way you can remember the function of the right side of the heart is that it pumps blood right to the lungs. So now that the deoxygenated blood has become oxygenated, we need to pump this blood to the rest of the body and that's where the left side of the heart comes into play. Starting with the first step, we again have blood vessels involved. They're the pulmonary veins and their function is to carry oxygenated blood from the lungs to the left side of the heart, specifically the left atrium. We'll see some better pictures of the pulmonary veins coming up. The second step is the left atrium. The left atrium is the chamber of the heart that receives oxygenated blood from the lungs. Blood will then flow from the left atrium to the left ventricle during diastole. As blood flows from the left atrium to the left ventricle, it travels through another valve known as the mitral valve. So you should be noticing a similar pattern on the left side as you did on the right side. First we have blood vessels that allowed the blood to enter that side of the heart, then we entered an atrium, then we traveled through a valve, and now we've entered another ventricle. During systole, when that heart is squeezing and contracting, it's going to pump blood forward from the left ventricle into the aorta. As blood flows from the left ventricle into the aorta, it passes through another valve known as the aortic valve. So you should be seeing a similar pattern here again between that left and right side. We've got the aortic valve which is step number five. We have the aorta which is step number six. The function of the aorta is to carry oxygenated blood from the left side of the heart to the rest of the body. So the main goal of the left side of the heart is to pump oxygenated blood it receives from the lungs to the rest of the body. An easy way to think about the function of the left side of the heart is that it pumps blood that has left the lungs. Let's now use the 2x2 table we made in the last video about the anatomy of the heart, and this will give us another way to visualize the blood flow through the heart. So first we have the superior vena cava and inferior vena cava that carry deoxygenated blood from the body to the right atrium. Blood will then flow from the right atrium through the tricuspid valve and enter the right ventricle. Blood will then exit the right ventricle, travel through the pulmonary valve, and enter the main pulmonary artery to be delivered to the lungs to become oxygenated. The oxygenated blood will then travel from the lungs through the pulmonary veins and enter the left atrium. Blood will then flow from the left atrium through the mitral valve and enter the left ventricle. Blood exits the left ventricle, travels through the aortic valve, and enters the aorta to be delivered to the rest of the body. Now that we have a good understanding of the blood flow through the heart using cartoon diagrams, let's apply this to a more realistic image. You can see the blue arrows represent the flow of deoxygenated blood through the right side of the heart. And the red arrows represent the flow of oxygenated blood through the left side of the heart. We're now going to remove the arrows and labels, so if you need more time to look at this diagram, hit pause in the video. And we're going to bring all this together with a quick animation. First we have all the deoxygenated venous blood from the rest of the body that needs to go to the right side of the heart to be pumped to the lungs. So the superior vena cava will carry the deoxygenated blood from the upper body, and the inferior vena cava will carry the deoxygenated blood from the lower body. The deoxygenated blood will first enter the right atrium. During diastole, when the heart is relaxed, the blood will flow from the right atrium through the tricuspid valve and enter the right ventricle. Then during systole, when that ventricle is squeezing and contracting, it will pump the deoxygenated blood from the right ventricle through the pulmonary valve and enter the main pulmonary artery. From there, the deoxygenated blood will travel through the right and left pulmonary arteries and enter the lungs to become oxygenated. Oxygenated blood will then travel from the lungs through the pulmonary veins and enter the left atrium. During diastole when that heart is relaxed, oxygenated blood will travel from the left atrium through the mitral valve and enter the left ventricle. Then during systole when the ventricle is contracting and squeezing, oxygenated blood will be pumped forward through the aortic valve and into the aorta to be delivered to the rest of the body. So now if we go back to the original diagram we started the video with, you should be able to label and understand the entire image. And hopefully this video made it easier for you. If you found the content useful, please give the video a quick like or drop a comment down below before you go. And if you haven't already, make sure to hit that subscribe button so you don't miss out on future videos that make medical and science topics easy, as well as all the free notes and blogs that correlate with the videos. All of this will help save you time in studying and help you throughout your career. You can find the EasyMed blog and notes for this video linked down below in the description, or you can go to EasyMedLearning.com. Thanks for watching and I hope you check out future videos.

In this video today, we're going to be talking about the blood flow through the heart. We've got some simple tricks that will help you remember the material. By the end of this video, you'll be able to label this entire diagram. We're also going to be using this diagram today to walk through the blood flow of the heart step by step.

You might remember in the last EasyMed video, we used the same diagram to learn the anatomy of the heart. By the end of that video, we were able to label all the main cardiac structures shown here. We simplified the anatomy of the heart using this cartoon image and 2x2 table. That video is full of tricks and ways to remember the names and anatomical features of the main cardiac structures.

So I highly encourage you check out the video. It'll be linked down below in the description. That will teach you the anatomy of the heart and now we're going to walk through the blood flow through those structures. The easiest way to go about this is to divide the heart into two sides. First we have the right side shown in blue.

There are six main steps or six main structures in which blood flows through the right side of the heart. Then we have the left side shown in red. Same thing here. There are six main steps or six main structures in which blood flows through the left side of the heart. We're going to walk through these 12 steps one by one.

And just like we did in the last video about the anatomy of the heart, we're going to first start off with this cartoon image and then we'll go back to the original diagrams to bring it all together. One of the first things you'll notice if you take a look at the 12 steps as a whole is that the pattern between the right and left side of the heart is similar. Steps 1 and 6 involve a blood vessel and this makes sense because that's how blood enters and exits that side of the heart.

Steps 2 through 5 go chamber, valve, chamber, valve. So if you remember this general pattern, This will help you remember the order in which blood flows through each side of the heart. Let's now walk through these 12 steps starting with the right side of the heart.

The first step is the superior vena cava and inferior vena cava. These are the main blood vessels that carry the deoxygenated venous blood from the rest of the body to the right side of the heart, specifically the right atrium. The superior vena cava is located superiorly and it carries the deoxygenated venous blood from the upper body to the right atrium. The inferior vena cava is located inferiorly and it carries the deoxygenated venous blood from the lower body to the right atrium. And this brings us to step two, which is the right atrium.

The right atrium is the first chamber of the heart in which the deoxygenated blood from the rest of the body enters. Blood will then flow from the right atrium to another chamber known as the right ventricle. This occurs during diastole when the heart is at rest and filling with blood. There's a previous EasyMed video where we talk about the cardiac cycle along with diastole and systole and how the pressures in the heart change. That video will be linked down below in the description so feel free to go check it out.

Now going back to those steps you may have noticed that we skipped the third one. As blood flows from the right atrium to the right ventricle it travels through a valve known as the tricuspid valve. So let's recap this so far. Step one was the superior vena cava and inferior vena cava.

They were the blood vessels that carried the deoxygenated blood from the rest of the body to the right atrium which is step number two. Blood then flows from the right atrium through the tricuspid valve which is step number three. and enters another chamber of the heart known as the right ventricle which is step four. During systole when the heart is squeezing and contracting it pumps blood forward from the right ventricle to the main pulmonary artery or pulmonary trunk.

As blood flows from the right ventricle to the main pulmonary artery it travels through another valve known as the pulmonary valve. So the pulmonary valve is step number five and the main pulmonary artery is step number six. The function of the main pulmonary artery is to then carry the deoxygenated blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs to become oxygenated. It does so using the right and left pulmonary arteries, which we'll see some better pictures of coming up.

So the main goal of the right side of the heart is to pump the deoxygenated blood it receives from the rest of the body to the lungs to become oxygenated. An easy way you can remember the function of the right side of the heart is that it pumps blood right to the lungs. So now that the deoxygenated blood has become oxygenated, we need to pump this blood to the rest of the body and that's where the left side of the heart comes into play. Starting with the first step, we again have blood vessels involved. They're the pulmonary veins and their function is to carry oxygenated blood from the lungs to the left side of the heart, specifically the left atrium.

We'll see some better pictures of the pulmonary veins coming up. The second step is the left atrium. The left atrium is the chamber of the heart that receives oxygenated blood from the lungs.

Blood will then flow from the left atrium to the left ventricle during diastole. As blood flows from the left atrium to the left ventricle, it travels through another valve known as the mitral valve. So you should be noticing a similar pattern on the left side as you did on the right side. First we have blood vessels that allowed the blood to enter that side of the heart, then we entered an atrium, then we traveled through a valve, and now we've entered another ventricle. During systole, when that heart is squeezing and contracting, it's going to pump blood forward from the left ventricle into the aorta.

As blood flows from the left ventricle into the aorta, it passes through another valve known as the aortic valve. So you should be seeing a similar pattern here again between that left and right side. We've got the aortic valve which is step number five. We have the aorta which is step number six.

The function of the aorta is to carry oxygenated blood from the left side of the heart to the rest of the body. So the main goal of the left side of the heart is to pump oxygenated blood it receives from the lungs to the rest of the body. An easy way to think about the function of the left side of the heart is that it pumps blood that has left the lungs.

Let's now use the 2x2 table we made in the last video about the anatomy of the heart, and this will give us another way to visualize the blood flow through the heart. So first we have the superior vena cava and inferior vena cava that carry deoxygenated blood from the body to the right atrium. Blood will then flow from the right atrium through the tricuspid valve and enter the right ventricle. Blood will then exit the right ventricle, travel through the pulmonary valve, and enter the main pulmonary artery to be delivered to the lungs to become oxygenated. The oxygenated blood will then travel from the lungs through the pulmonary veins and enter the left atrium.

Blood will then flow from the left atrium through the mitral valve and enter the left ventricle. Blood exits the left ventricle, travels through the aortic valve, and enters the aorta to be delivered to the rest of the body. Now that we have a good understanding of the blood flow through the heart using cartoon diagrams, let's apply this to a more realistic image.

You can see the blue arrows represent the flow of deoxygenated blood through the right side of the heart. And the red arrows represent the flow of oxygenated blood through the left side of the heart. We're now going to remove the arrows and labels, so if you need more time to look at this diagram, hit pause in the video. And we're going to bring all this together with a quick animation. First we have all the deoxygenated venous blood from the rest of the body that needs to go to the right side of the heart to be pumped to the lungs.

So the superior vena cava will carry the deoxygenated blood from the upper body, and the inferior vena cava will carry the deoxygenated blood from the lower body. The deoxygenated blood will first enter the right atrium. During diastole, when the heart is relaxed, the blood will flow from the right atrium through the tricuspid valve and enter the right ventricle. Then during systole, when that ventricle is squeezing and contracting, it will pump the deoxygenated blood from the right ventricle through the pulmonary valve and enter the main pulmonary artery. From there, the deoxygenated blood will travel through the right and left pulmonary arteries and enter the lungs to become oxygenated.

Oxygenated blood will then travel from the lungs through the pulmonary veins and enter the left atrium. During diastole when that heart is relaxed, oxygenated blood will travel from the left atrium through the mitral valve and enter the left ventricle. Then during systole when the ventricle is contracting and squeezing, oxygenated blood will be pumped forward through the aortic valve and into the aorta to be delivered to the rest of the body.

So now if we go back to the original diagram we started the video with, you should be able to label and understand the entire image. And hopefully this video made it easier for you. If you found the content useful, please give the video a quick like or drop a comment down below before you go. And if you haven't already, make sure to hit that subscribe button so you don't miss out on future videos that make medical and science topics easy, as well as all the free notes and blogs that correlate with the videos.

All of this will help save you time in studying and help you throughout your career. You can find the EasyMed blog and notes for this video linked down below in the description, or you can go to EasyMedLearning.com. Thanks for watching and I hope you check out future videos.

Transcript for:Understanding Blood Flow in the Heart

Transcript for:
Understanding Blood Flow in the Heart