What are heart valves and what is their function?
Valves within the heart separate the right atrium and ventricle (tricuspid valve), the left atrium and ventricle (mitral valve), the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery (pulmonic valve), and the left ventricle and aorta (aortic valve) (click here to see cardiac anatomy diagram). The valves ensure that blood flows in a single pathway through the heart by opening and closing in a particular time sequence during the cardiac cycle. Normal valves permit blood to flow in only one direction, for example, from the right atrium into the right ventricle. When heart valves become diseased or damaged, they may not fully open or close. This can seriously impair cardiac function by causing blood to leak back into cardiac chambers or by requiring heart chambers to contract more forcefully to move blood across a narrowed valve.
