Left ventricle
Ventriculus sinister
Definition
The left ventricle is longer and more conical in shape than the right, and on transverse section its concavity presents an oval or nearly circular outline. It forms a small part of the sternocostal surface and a considerable part of the diaphragmatic surface of the heart; it also forms the apex of the heart. Its walls are about three times as thick as those of the right ventricle.
Its interior presents the following parts for examination:
- Openings : Left atrioventricular orifice and aortic orifice
- Valves : mitral valve and aortic valve
- Trabeculae carneae and Chordæ tendineæ
References
This definition incorporates text from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy (20th U.S. edition of Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, published in 1918 – from http://www.bartleby.com/107/).
