Heart Valves

Heart valves ensure one-way blood flow through precisely timed opening and closing. Atrioventricular valves—the tricuspid on the right and mitral on the left—hang from chordae tendineae anchored to papillary muscles, preventing prolapse during ventricular contraction. Semilunar valves—the pulmonary and aortic—lack chordae and open with ventricular pressure, closing when pressure drops to prevent backflow. Valve murmurs arise from incomplete closure or narrowing, disrupting smooth flow.