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General structure

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

The general structure of heart valves is dependent on the valve:

  • tricuspid and mitral valves:
    • each leaflet is a flat sheet
    • the margin of each leaflet has serrations where the chordae tendineae attach
    • the chordae tendineae are attached to papillary muscles which contract during systole; the increased tension within the chordae and muscles acts to:
      • prevent eversion of the valve
      • limit ventricular distention as the left ventricular pressure rises
    • therefore, tricuspid and mitral valve competence depends on the active process of papillary muscle contraction
  • during diastole, the valve leaflets merge at their free margins and overlap each other centrally

  • aortic and pulmonary valves:
    • each leaflet is ballooned into a cup-shaped concavity when viewed from the aorta
    • during diastole, the column of blood superior to the vessel forces out the leaflets from above, filling their concavities and forcing the aortic valve leaflets together
    • therefore, closure of the aortic and pulmonary valves is a passive process
    • there is no attachment to chorae tendineae
    • a sinus - a dilation of the outflow vessel - exists superior to each valve leaflet:
      • vortices, circular currents of blood, develop within the sinus during systole
      • they prevent the individual leaflets from adhering to the wall of the outflow vessel, so rendering the valve incompetent
    • each leaflet has a fibrous nodule at its centre which is a thickening of its lamina fibrosa

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