Pulmonary valve

Pulmonary valve
Anterior (frontal) view of the opened heart. White arrows indicate normal blood flow.
Heart seen from above.
Latin	valva trunci pulmonalis
Gray's	subject #138 532
System
MeSH	A07.541.510.738

The pulmonary valve (or pulmonic valve) is the semilunar valve of the heart that lies between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery and has three cusps. Similar to the aortic valve, the pulmonic valve opens in ventricular systole, when the pressure in the right ventricle rises above the pressure in the pulmonary artery. At the end of ventricular systole, when the pressure in the right ventricle falls rapidly, the pressure in the pulmonary artery will close the pulmonic valve.

The closure of the pulmonic valve contributes the P2 component of the second heart sound (S2). The right heart is a low-pressure system, so the P2 component of the second heart sound is usually softer than the A2 component of the second heart sound. However, it is physiologically normal in some young people to hear both components separated during inspiration.

See also

• Heart valve

External links

• SUNY Figs 20:07-00

Cardiovascular system - Heart - edit

atria (interatrial septum) | ventricles (interventricular septum) | valves (chordae tendinae, papillary muscle) right heart: (vena cavae, coronary sinus) → right atrium (fossa ovalis) → tricuspid valve → right ventricle → pulmonic valve  → (pulmonary artery and pulmonary circulation) left heart: (pulmonary veins) → left atrium → mitral valve → left ventricle → aortic valve → (aorta, aortic sinus and systemic circulation) pericardium | epicardium | endocardium | myocardium conduction system: cardiac pacemaker | Purkinje fibers | bundle of His | SA node | AV node

The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulmonic_valve under GFDL