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Normal Cardiac Anatomy

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In this case, I will take you through cardiac anatomy.

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We won't focus on the coronary

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arteries, but the chambers.

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So one of the things, if you have a 3D

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monitoring session, is that you can play

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around with the planes quite easily.

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But it's always a good idea to try and get to

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these cardiac planes through first principles.

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So the first principle is that you find an axial

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image where you see the apex and the mitral valve.

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And then draw a line that bisects the mitral

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valve and the LV apex, like I'm doing here.

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And what you get as a result of

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that is the two-chamber view.

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You can always tweak it, but it's a two-chamber view.

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Now, with off-axis cardiac anatomy, or rather

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cardiac anatomy as the cardiologists look

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at it, is along the planes of the heart.

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And the heart is in an off-axis plane.

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It's not in your usual axial, coronal, sagittal plane.

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It's slightly off-axis.

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So this is the vertical long-axis view, also known

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as the two-chamber view, and the two chambers

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are the left atrium and the left ventricle.

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The heart consists of the anterior wall and the

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inferior wall, so notice the difference here is

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not anterior posterior but anterior inferior.

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And when you think about the heart,

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you think about base, apex, so you say that

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this part is more apical than this spot,

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so that's a better way to describe relationships

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of things rather than anterior and posterior.

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This is the anterior third, this is the

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middle third, and this is the apical third.

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This is the apex, the true apex.

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This is the inferior third,

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middle, and apical inferior.

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So basal inferior, middle inferior, apical inferior.

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So basal anterior, mid-cavity, and apical.

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Left atrium, left ventricle, the structure

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here coming out is the left atrial appendage,

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and this is the anterior part of the mitral valve.

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And this is the posterior part of the mitral valve.

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You can always play around and try and guess

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what anatomical structure you're dealing with.

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So here's the left main coming off.

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Notice that the left main, and here it

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gives off the LAD and the circumflex.

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Notice that the left main is related

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to the left atrial appendage.

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Okay, so this is the vertical long-axis view.

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Now, if we then drew a line that bisected

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the mitral valve and the apex again, we would

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have what's known as the four-chamber view.

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It's never turned out to be quite like they show in

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the books, but we've got it roughly: right atrium,

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left atrium, left ventricle, right ventricle,

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anterior left ventricle to the mitral valve,

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posterior left ventricle to the mitral valve.

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The right ventricle isn't terribly

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opacified, which makes seeing the tricuspid

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valve difficult, but it's somewhere here.

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So the relationship I want to emphasize here

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is that this leaflet here, which is the septal

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leaflet of the tricuspid valve, is more apical

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than the septal leaflet of the mitral valve.

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So this relationship is a normal relationship.

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But when the septal leaflet of the tricuspid

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valve is way too apical, you have an

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abnormality known as Epstein's anomaly.

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Epstein's anomaly is when the septal leaflet of the

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tricuspid valve is far too apical, leading to parts

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of the right ventricle being in the right atrium.

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So it leads to a big right atrium.

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And, um, box-shaped hearts and stuff like that.

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So that's the important thing to appreciate:

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this is a normal relationship.

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But this has consequences.

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Now the consequence is that this is the septum.

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And the septum separates the left

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ventricle from the right ventricle.

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Until you come to this point.

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At this point, the septum is separating

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the left ventricle from the right atrium.

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Why is that?

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Because the septal leaflet of the tricuspid valve

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is more apical, therefore now you have the right

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atrium bordering the left ventricle, so you can

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have a VSD, ventricular septal defect, you can

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have an ASD, atrial septal defect, but you can

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also have what's known as an AVSD, which is a

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canal defect, which tends to be one of the most

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consequential left-to-right shunts because you

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have the left ventricle and the right atrium, so

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a high-pressure system and a low-pressure system.63 00:03:10,255 --> 00:03:12,495 So the relationship I want to emphasize here

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is that this leaflet here, which is the septal

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leaflet of the tricuspid valve, is more apical

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than the septal leaflet of the mitral valve.

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So this relationship is a normal relationship.

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But when the septal leaflet of the tricuspid

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valve is way too apical, you have an

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abnormality known as Epstein's anomaly.

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Epstein's anomaly is when the septal leaflet of the

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tricuspid valve is far too apical, leading to parts

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of the right ventricle being in the right atrium.

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So it leads to a big right atrium.

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And, um, box-shaped hearts and stuff like that.

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So that's the important thing to appreciate:

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this is a normal relationship.

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But this has consequences.

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Now the consequence is that this is the septum.

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And the septum separates the left

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ventricle from the right ventricle.

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Until you come to this point.

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At this point, the septum is separating

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the left ventricle from the right atrium.

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Why is that?

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Because the septal leaflet of the tricuspid valve

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is more apical, therefore now you have the right

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atrium bordering the left ventricle, so you can

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have a VSD, ventricular septal defect, you can

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have an ASD, atrial septal defect, but you can

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also have what's known as an AVSD, which is a

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canal defect, which tends to be one of the most

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consequential left-to-right shunts because you

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have the left ventricle and the right atrium, so

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a high-pressure system and a low-pressure system.

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You don't have that counterbalance that

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you have with the atria or the ventricles.

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So this is the anterolateral view of the mitral valve.

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It's pretty important.

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But before we get to that, let's do another plane.

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So remember I said that there are two long-axis planes?

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I may not have said it, but

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that's what I wanted to say.

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One is a vertical long-axis, and if you do an

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orthogonal view to that, you get a four-chamber view.

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But what if you do something that

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is at right angles to both of them?

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Then you have what's known as the short-axis view.

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We're going to try and get it perfectly

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orthogonal; it doesn't always come that way.

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But this is the main view of looking at

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the heart, so always get into the habit of

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looking at the heart in this particular view.

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It reveals a lot of pathology that you would miss if

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you're only looking in the axial coronal central plane.

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So remember I said that you have the anterior

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wall and the inferior wall in the two-chamber view.

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In the four-chamber view, you have the lateral wall

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and septal.

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So it's not anterior-posterior; it's anterior-

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inferior; it's lateral-septal, not lateral-medial.

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So this is kind of like a sum of all four, so

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you have anterior-inferior, septal-lateral,

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and we're now at the base of the heart,

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and now we're at the apex of the heart.

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So if you're at the base, the basal anterior,

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basal septal, basal inferior, basal lateral.

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Now you're at the apex, you're at the apical,

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anterior apical, septal apical, inferior apical,

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and then you've got this, which is also

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known as Segment 17, which is the true apex.

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So it's not really lateral, whatever.

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It's actually the apex itself.

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So as you can appreciate.

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So you have the right ventricle, left ventricle.

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This is a very important view for understanding the

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pathology, the structure, the motion of the heart.

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Here are the papillary muscles, and

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they're at the 2 and 5 o'clock positions.

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Anterolateral, posterior, and medial.

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You can confirm why they're called that when

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you cross-link to axial, cranial, and sagittal planes.

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Alright.

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One thing I want to show you, so I, so far I

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mentioned the importance of these three planes.

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There's another plane, which is

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a very nifty plane to look at.

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So here’s your short-axis plane, here I’m going

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towards the apex, and here I’m going towards the base.

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Alright, as I go to the base, right when

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I’m in the left atrium, so here I’m in the

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left ventricle, here’s the mitral valve that I’m

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seeing on this view, and here I’m in the left atrium.

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You’ve got this almost snowman appearance.

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If you draw a line that bisects that snowman,

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you have what’s known as the three-chamber view.

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It’s a very important view anatomically

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and also for understanding function.

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So you have the left atrium, left

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ventricle, and right ventricle.

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This is the basal septum and this is

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the anterior for the mitral valve.

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Notice how There is a continuity between the

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anteroliferal mitral valve and the aortic valve.

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So if you were at the aortic valve, you would

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end up in the anteroliferal mitral valve.

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This is a property of the left ventricle.

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The left ventricle isn't simply

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defined by its laterality.

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It's defined by its morphological characteristics.

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One of them being the fact that its left

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ventricular outflow tract is a fibrous outflow

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tract, and there is aorto mitral continuity.

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So what are the consequences of this continuity?

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The first consequence is that if you have

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You can have a regurgitation jet hitting

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the anterolifer of the mitral valves.

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Remember, regurgitation happens in diastole.

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And that's when the aortic valve is supposed to

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be closed, but it's not, so it's regurgitating.

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And then it hits the antilever of the mitral

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So that’s one consequence of the aortomitral

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continuity, is this regurgitant jet

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hitting the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve.

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In fact, there’s actually a murmur named after it.

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That’s the Austin Flint murmur.

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That’s what you get when you

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have that jet impinging on it.

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Second consequence.

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Is that you see this is the basal septum in

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conditions such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy,

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the basal septum can thicken, and by thickening,

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it can narrow the left ventricular outflow tract.

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And when it narrows the left ventricular outflow

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tract, it leads to flow acceleration through

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the LVOT, which causes a pressure drop, and it

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sucks that anterior leaflet from the mitral valve in.

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It’s known as the Venturi effect.

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And it’s a consequence of obviously the pathology,

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hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, but this predisposing

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anatomical relationship of aortomitral continuity.

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And you can imagine that if you have anything

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going on with the mitral valve, like repair,

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that sort of patients that have a valve

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repair that has failed and they put another valve and

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you can push that anterior leaflet towards the left

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ventricular outflow tract and narrow it further.

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So this relationship is very

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important for those reasons.

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We should also take a look at the aortic

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valve because that’s also interesting.

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So again, I’m going right in the plane of

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it and then going at right angles to it.

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You can always get your plane’s prescription

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very good by getting orthogonal planes in

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two long axes, so here’s the LVOT, here’s

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coronal, here’s a three-chamber, I can really

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kind of get the right angles nicely in this

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by getting it at right angles in two places.

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And you can see that what the aortic valve is,

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it’s comprised of three sinuses, they tend to be

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of the same size, that is they’re symmetrical,

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and where in aortic stenosis they confuse.

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and that can lead to size discrepancies.

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You can also follow the arteries and see what they are.

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You get very confusing at times, but

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there is a logical way of following it.

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So the logical way is to look for

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structures that you know are related.

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So let’s look at this artery here.

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What is this?

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Is it the left or is it the right?

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So remember the left coronary artery is

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related to the left atrial appendage.

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So even though this appears anterior, it isn’t.

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I’ve just turned this all the way around.

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So this is the left coronary artery,

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and this is the right coronary artery.

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So this is the anterior cusp, this is the left

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posterior, and this is the non-coronary cusp.

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So the non-coronary cusp has a property that it

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points in the direction of the interatrial septum.

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So it’s good spatial exercise for spatial

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reasoning to try and figure out the anatomy

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by playing around with the planes.

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So I spoke to you about the, um, defining

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characteristics of the left ventricle.

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What about the right ventricle?

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The right ventricle too has defining characteristics

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and one defining characteristic is that

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it’s not the left ventricle, which of course

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isn’t much of a definition, just to say

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what they’re not, but it’s important to

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understand the distinction between the two.

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The right ventricular outflow tract is muscular.

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The left ventricular outflow tract is fibrous.

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In the right ventricular outflow tract,

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there is no continuity between the

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pulmonic valve and the tricuspid valve.

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Now the two are linked, so stuff that goes

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on the pulmonic valve can of course affect

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the tricuspid valve, but it does so directly.

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So this is a muscular infundibulum without

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continuity between the two valves.

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The opacification of the RV could have been better,

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although it’s fine because it’s a coronary

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study and we’re not interested in the RV.

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So that is your basic and your, um,

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slightly more complex cardiac anatomy.

Report

Faculty

Saurabh Jha, MD

Co-Program Director, Cardiothoracic Imaging Fellowship, Associate Professor of Radiology

University of Pennsylvania

Tags

Vascular

Non-infectious Inflammatory

Neoplastic

Myocardium

Infectious

Coronary arteries

Congenital

Cardiac valves

Cardiac Chambers

Cardiac CT (Category B1 Video Case)

Cardiac

CTA

CT

Acquired/Developmental

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