Heart Disease: Overview of the Heart
Your heart has a left and
a right side and each side has an upper chamber (atrium) and a lower chamber
(ventricle). The atrium receives the blood from the body and then the ventricle
pumps the blood out of the heart.
Oxygen-poor blood comes
from the body and flows into the right atrium. The blood goes into the right
ventricle, where it is pumped out to the lungs to pick up oxygen. Blood-carrying
oxygen returns to the heart through the left atrium and flows into the left ventricle.
The left ventricle pumps the now oxygen-rich blood through arteries to the rest
of the body.
