A ventricle is one of two large chambers toward the bottom of the heart that collect and expel blood received from an atrium towards the peripheral beds within the body and lungs.
The atrium is an adjacent/upper heart chamber that is smaller than a ventricle, and it primes the ventricle pump.
Humans, have two ventricles that operate in a double circulatory system.
The right ventricle pumps blood into the pulmonary circulation to the lungs, and the left ventricle pumps blood into the systemic circulation through the aorta.
Ventricles have thicker walls than atria and generate higher blood pressures.
The physiological load on the ventricles requires pumping of blood throughout the body and lungs is much greater than the pressure generated by the atria to fill the ventricles.
The left ventricle has thicker walls than the right.
Irregular muscular columns called trabeculae carneae cover all of the inner ventricular surfaces except that of the conus arteriosus, in the right ventricle.
There are three types of these muscles.
Papillary muscles, give origin at their apices to the chordae tendinae which attach to the cusps of the tricuspid valve and to the mitral valve.
MRI mass of the left ventricle averages 143 g ± 38.4 g, with a range of 87–224 g.
The right ventricle is equal in size to the left ventricle and contains roughly 85 millilitres in the adult.
The left ventricular septum,bulges into the right ventricle.
Its upper and left angle forms a conical pouch, the conus arteriosus, from which the pulmonary artery arises.
The left ventricle is longer and more conical in shape than the right ventricle.
Its concavity presents an oval or nearly circular outline.
The left ventricle forms a part of the sternocostal surface and a considerable part of the diaphragmatic surface of the heart.
The left ventricle also forms the apex of the heart.
The right ventricle is triangular in shape and extends from the tricuspid valve in the right atrium to near the apex of the heart.
Its wall is thickest at the apex and thins towards its base at the atrium.
The left ventricle typically has five times greater pressure workload than the right ventricle, and acts while accepting blood returning from the pulmonary veins at ~80mmHg pressure and pushing it forward to the typical ~120mmHg pressure in the aorta during each heartbeat.
During systole, the ventricles contract, pumping blood through the body.
During diastole, the ventricles relax and fill with blood.
The left ventricle receives oxygenated blood from the left atrium via the mitral valve.
The left ventricle pumps blood through the aorta via the aortic valve, into the systemic circulation.
The left ventricular muscle must relax and contract quickly to be able to increase or lower its pumping capacity under the control of the nervous system.
In the diastolic phase, the left ventricle relaxes quickly after each contraction so as to quickly fill with the oxygenated blood flowing from the pulmonary veins.
In the systolic phase, the left ventricle contracts rapidly and forcibly to pump blood into the aorta, overcoming the much higher aortic pressure.
The right ventricle receives deoxygenated blood from the right atrium via the tricuspid valve and pumps it into the pulmonary artery via the pulmonary valve, into the pulmonary circulation.
The adult heart pumping volume is ~5 liters/min, in the resting state.
Maximum capacity pumping volume extends from ~25 liters/min for non-athletes to as high as ~45 liters/min for advanced level athletes.
The performance of the ventricles are measured with volumetric parameters: end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), stroke volume (SV) and ejection fraction (Ef).
End-diastolic volume 144 mL.
End-diastolic volume / body surface area (mL/m2) 78 mL/m2.
End-systolic volume 50 mL
End-systolic volume / body surface area (mL/m2) 27 mL/m2
Stroke volume 94 mL.
Stroke volume / body surface area (mL/m2) 51 mL/m2
Ejection fraction 66%
Heart rate 60–100 bpm
Cardiac output 4.0–8.0 L/minute
Pressures-Normal pressure range
(in mmHg)
Central venous pressure 3–8
Right ventricular pressure systolic 15–30
diastolic 3–8
Pulmonary artery pressure systolic 15–30
diastolic 4–12
Pulmonary vein/
Pulmonary capillary wedge pressure
2–15
Left ventricular pressure systolic 100–140
diastolic 3–12
Ventricular pressure is a measure of blood pressure within the ventricles of the heart.
During most of the cardiac cycle, ventricular pressure is less than the pressure in the aorta.
During systole, the ventricular pressure rapidly increases, and the two pressures become equal to each other: the aortic valve opens, and blood is pumped to the body.
An elevated pressure difference between the aortic pressure and the left ventricular pressure may be indicative of aortic stenosis.
Left ventricular end-diastolic dimension
The end-diastolic dimension of the left ventricle.
48 mm, with a range 36 – 56 mm.
Right ventricular end-diastolic dimension
Ranges 10 – 26 mm.
Left ventricular end-systolic dimensio
Range 20 – 40 mm
Right ventricular end-systolic dimension
Range 10 – 26 mm
The thickness of the interventricular septum. 8.3 mm
Range 7 – 11 mm
Left ventricular end diastolic posterior wall dimension
8.3 mm
Range 7 – 11 mm
Average thickness of the left ventricle,
Women: 4 – 8 mm.
Men: 5 – 9 mm.
Average thickness of the right ventricle, 4 – 7 mm.
Fractional shortening is the fraction of any diastolic dimension that is lost in systole.
Normal range is 25–45%, Mild is 20–25%, Moderate is 15–20%, and Severe is <15%.
Cardiac dysrhythmia is an irregular heartbeat that can occur in the ventricles or atria.
The Purkinje fibers of the ventricle can give rise to premature ventricular contractions, also called ventricular extra beats.
When premature ventricular contractions become grouped the condition is known as ventricular tachycardia.
Another form of arrhythmia is that of the ventricular escape beat, a compensatory mechanism when there is a problem in the conduction system from the SA node.
Ventricular fibrillation is the most common cause of cardiac arrest and subsequent sudden death.
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