Anatomic basis of cross-sectional echocardiography

• Published in: Heart (British Cardiac Society) 2001-06, Vol.85 (6), p.716-720
• Main Authors: Anderson, Robert H, Ho, Siew Yen, Brecker, Stephen J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Anatomy; Anatomy - education; Coronary vessels; Echocardiography; Echocardiography - methods; Education in Heart; Education, Medical - methods; Electrocardiography; Heart; Heart - anatomy & histology; Humans; Methods
• ISSN: 1355-6037; 1468-201X
• DOI: 10.1136/heart.85.6.716

In reality, the so-called "right" chambers are more-or-less anterior to their purported left sided counterparts, while the atria are essentially to the right of their respective ventricles. [...]in the frontal silhouette, it is the right atrium and right ventricle which occupy most of the cardiac surface (fig 3 ). The aortic valve forms the centrepiece of the heart, and is located directly in front of, and just above, the mitral valve. 3 The leaflets of the aortic and mitral valves are in fibrous continuity, a feature of crucial importance in understanding the complications of endocarditis of the aortic root. To take full advantage, it helps if the investigator is fully conversant with the detailed structure of the heart, particularly such features as the precise arrangement of the atrial septum (fig 9 ), the origin and proximal course of the coronary arteries (fig 10 ), and the structure of the aortic root. 3 Detailed descriptions of these features are beyond the scope of this brief review, but the structure of the atrial septum will be addressed in a subsequent article in this series of anatomic reviews.