Describe the location and position of the heart in the thoracic cavity
The heart is present in the center of the thoracic cavity, obliquely oriented , with heart apex pointing left and down.
It is suspended inside a tough fibrous sac called as pericardium, through its connections to the great vessels-
1.the superior and inferior venae cavae,
2.the pulmonary artery and veins,
3.and the aorta.
The pericardium is united to the diaphragm, that's why the downward movement of the diaphragm while inspiration pulls the heart into a more vertical orientation.
The heart is positioned atop the diaphragm and its apex is close to the thoracic cavity anterior surface.
Along every beat, the heart twists anteriorly and the apex taps against the wall of chest, producing the apex beat and can be felt in the left fifth intercoastal space.
The heart itself is formed around a ring of fibrous tissue known as the annulus fibrosis which separates the atria from the ventricles and have four heart valves.
The right and left atria are referred as two thin-walled sacs which collect blood may be from the veins (right atria) or from the lungs (left atria), on the other hand the ventricles are thick-walled muscular sacs that push blood though the arteries.
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