Left Ventricle (I)

Two windows have been cut in the anterolateral walls of the left atrium and the left ventricle of this specimen.  The mitral valve ring and apparatus are left intact. The smooth and thick endocardium of the atrium is shown. The intimate contact of the anterior atrial wall with the pulmonary trunk and the root of the right and left pulmonary arteries is shown. The mitral chordal apparatus and its attachments to the anterolateral and posteromedial papillary muscles is easily seen. A thebesian vein is shown opening directly into the left atrium. RPA = Right pulmonary artery, AS = Atrial septum, CS = Great cardiac vein turning in to the Coronary Sinus, LPW = left posterior wall, PPR = Posterior Papillary Muscle, APM = Anterior Papillary Muscle.

A set of parasagital images of the left ventricles (similar to a parasternal long axis view in a 2D echocardiogram) are shown here.