A&P: The Roles of the Chambers

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The human heart has four divisions the upper and lower chambers, which make up the atrium and ventricles, respectively. The roles of the chambers differ with the lower chambers playing the pumping function whereas the upper chamber serving the filling role. The upper chambers or atria, right and left atrium separated by a wall known as the septum. A child born with a hole in that septum, or between the right and left atrium has a defect known as an atrial septal defect (ASD). In most children, the ASD causes no symptoms; however, when the defect is very large, there will be a lot of blood flowing through and this may cause congestive heart failure signs including shortness of breath, fatigue and poor growth. Besides, such children may have murmurs. A murmur does not emerge due to blood passing through the hole, but rather the murmur emerges from the pulmonary valve area because the heart tries to force a large amount of blood to pass via a normal sized valve (Lyon et al., 2010). In addition, the children may have a second heart sound, which is often split and different from the normal sound from the heart.
On the other hand, children with a hole between the left and right ventricle suffer from a defect known as a ventricular septal defect (VSD). The VSDs may occur in different locations and they occur in different sizes. The location and size of the defect determines the consequences of the defect. It is important to know that when the defect is small, such do not cause problems; thus, small defects end gradually. There is a particular symptom associated with VSD. VSDs have a typical murmur that allows cardiologists to determine the location, and possibly, they can approximate the size of the defect by the sound of the murmur. The murmur is not heard at birth, as the child grows and pressure of the blood changes, the hole between the left and right ventricle is heard as a murmur. In addition, children with large defects experience excessive blood flow to the lungs, and they have congestive heart failure. Because both defects, the ASD and VSD share a common symptom, which is the murmur (Lyon et al., 2010). However, the murmur from the ASD emerges from the pulmonary valve, whereas the murmur from the VSD emerges because of the blood flowing across the hole.
Unlike ASD where the child grows poorly, children with VSD grow well. A useful artificial heart must perform the functions of the natural heart. In particular, the artificial heart must pump blood, regulate the heartbeat and perform the cardiac cycle. In this regard, it is important to note that the main function of the heart is to pump blood. Therefore, for the artificial heart, it must have the upper and lower chambers, which will help in performing this function. On the other hand, the art...