Posterolateral Wall of Left Ventricle

Description

The heart wall windows follow the standard cuts that are made in anatomy dissections to visualize the internal structures and features of the atria and ventricles.

The posterolateral wall of the left ventricle illustrates cuts that are made parallel to the anterior interventricular sulcus, to the left of the interventricular septum. It extends from the pulmonary trunk and left auricle to the apex of the heart. A diagonal cut is made just below the coronary sulcus and extends posteriorly with the great cardiac vein.

The structures visible when the wall is reflected include:

- the trabeculae carneae (or course apical trabeculations);

- interventricular septum;

- papillary muscles;

- chordae tendineae (or tendinous cords);

- two leaflets of the left atrioventricular valve (mitral valve);

- smooth-walled outflow tract called the aortic vestibule;

- semilunar leaflets (cusps) of the aortic valve.