Anatomy study note · Thorax

Right atrium

The chamber that receives venous blood from the whole body and the heart wall and passes it through the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle. It forms the right border of the heart.

Key points

• Receives SVC, IVC and coronary sinus.
• Smooth part (sinus venosus) vs. pectinate auricle; divided by the crista terminalis.
• Fossa ovalis = remnant of the foramen ovale.
• SA node at the SVC–crista terminalis junction.
• Sinus venosus → smooth part; crista terminalis marks the junction.
• Fossa ovalis = septum primum.
• SA node: by the SVC opening. AV node: by the tricuspid.
• Atria secrete ANP → lowers blood pressure.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Features · Tributaries · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

Sign in free to see it on the 3D model, read the full note and practise questions on it.

Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 5, PDF pp. 611–612, 634–636
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 15, PDF pp. 230–232, 245
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 11, PDF pp. 195–196; ch. 8, PDF pp. 145–146

More from the thorax

• Right coronary artery
• Right ventricle
• Serratus posterior muscles
• Sternum
• Superior vena cava
• Sympathetic trunk
• Thymus
• Trachea
• Tricuspid valve
• Vagus nerve
• Aortic valve
• Arch of aorta

Privacy policy · Designed by DATXOC LLC.