The two large pumping chambers of the heart. The right ventricle pumps blood to the lungs, whereas the left ventricle, which has a muscle wall three times thicker than that of the right ventricle, pumps blood to all parts of the body.
Cavities or chambers in the body, generally filled with fluid. In the brain, each half of the cerebrum surrounds a ventricle, with two smaller ventricles near the brain stem. Enlargement of the ventricles is found in certain diseases and disorders, such as hydrocephalus and Huntington’s chorea. In cases of hydrocephalus, a shunt is sometimes inserted into the head to bypass a blockage or remove excess cerebrospinal fluid; on occasion that can cause infection of the ventricles (ventriculitis). Premature infants are more than usually susceptible to abnormal, excessive bleeding in the brain ventricles.
Either of the two lower chambers of the heart. The left ventricle receives oxygenated blood from the pulmonary vein through the left atrium and pumps it to the aorta, from which it is sent throughout the body. The thinner-walled right ventricle receives deoxygenated blood from the venae cavae through the right atrium and pumps it through the pulmonary artery to the lung for the exchange of gases.
A small functional space or cavity in an organ, particularly the heart and brain. In the heart, the two lower muscular chambers are called ventricles. They receive blood from the upper heart chambers and pump it to the lungs and to the rest of the body. The four ventricles of the brain are located in the lower center of the organ. They have a role in producing and circulating the cerebrospinal fluid that cushions the brain and spinal cord.
Either of the two lower chambers of the heart, which have thick muscular walls. The left ventricle, which is thicker than the right, receives blood from the pulmonary vein via the left atrium and pumps it into the aorta. The right ventricle pumps blood received from the venae cavae (via the right atrium) into the pulmonary artery.
The term applied to the two lower cavities of the heart, and also to the four main cavities within the brain.
One of the two large, muscular chambers that pump blood out of the heart.
A thick-walled, lower chamber of the heart that receives blood pumped from the atrium. There is a right ventricle and a left ventricle.
One of the two lower chambers (namely, left and right) of the heart responsible for receiving blood from the upper chambers (atria) and subsequently propelling it into the arteries.
A hollow space or compartment. Both the heart and the brain possess anatomical components referred to as ventricles.
The brain comprises four ventricles: situated within each of the two cerebral hemispheres; a third positioned at the brain’s center, situated above the brainstem; and a fourth nestled between the brainstem and the cerebellum. These spaces are occupied by cerebrospinal fluid.
The heart’s ventricles constitute its two inferior chambers. These ventricles receive blood from each atrium, the upper chamber, and subsequently propel it to both the lungs and the rest of the body.