This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Aortic valve (anatomy)

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

The aortic valve consists of a complex of structures surrounding the aortic orifice along the outflow tract of the left ventricle. Blood passes through the valve to the ascending aorta. Typically, the valve has three leaflets which are semilunar in shape. Above each leaflet is a dilatation of the ascending aortic wall termed the aortic sinus. The ostia of the coronary arteries originate from two of the coronary sinuses. Just inferior to the valve is the aortic vestibule.

The plane of the valve is angled to the right, superiorly and anteriorly. It is slightly inferior to the pulmonary valve which lies to its left. It is anterior and slightly superior to the mitral valve.

It resembles the structure of the pulmonary valve except that in keeping with the higher pressures on the left side of the heart, the aortic valve is thicker. Common features include:

  • annulus, part of the fibrous skeleton of the heart
  • valve leaflets
  • sinuses

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page