by Tarek Musslimani

Created on: June 13, 2010

The heart is a muscular pump in the body which pumps venous deoxygenated blood from the various organs of the body through the vena cava to the pulmonary circulation where it is processed by removing carbon dioxide  from the blood  into the lungs.  In exchange, the blood is oxygenated with oxygen and is pumped from the pulmonary circulation to the various body organs through the aortic artery which has branches for each and each organ.

In addition  to oxygen the heart pumps through the blood nutrients to the body tissues especially the sugar glucose.  Also toxins in the body are sent through the blood circulation to the liver sinuses where they are detoxified and neutralized using macrophages in the liver which are called kupfer cells.  After that the detoxified compounds are sent to the kidney, again with the blood stream where there it is filtered in the urine and is expelled from the body. 

for all these reasons the heart has a crucial role for sustaining life if not the most crucial organ in the body.  Therefore diseases of the heart especially heart failure ca have dramatic effects on the body due to the deficient supply of oxygen and nutrients to the body organs.  All body organs can be affected by a heart failure. 

A clinically important disease of the heart that can impair the pumping ability of the heart to pump blood to the circulation is stenosis of the coronary artery which supplies the heart muscle with oxygen and gluccose.  Therefore adequqate blood supply to the heart muscle with oxygen and glucose is of utmost importance for the proper supply of blood to the various organs in the body. 

The heart of humans is composed of a layer that lines its inner surface and which is called endocardium.  In addition, there is the muscular layer of the heart which is called the myocardium.  Its contraction and relaxation stimulates the process of pumping blood through the circulation.  Finally, there is an outer layer of the heart which is called the pericardium.  It is a sac that lines the outer side of the heart.  In addition, to these layers the heart has nerve fibers which coordinate the processes of contraction and relaxation of the heart muscle.

The heart from the inside is composed of four chambers.  these are: two upper chambers and which are called atria.  In addition, there are two lower chambers and which are called ventricles.  The

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