ventrikkelveggen

Ventrikkelveggen is the muscular wall that forms the boundary of the heart’s ventricles, present in both the left and right ventricles. It plays a central role in the heart’s pumping action. The ventricular wall is organized into three layers: the endocardium lining the ventricular cavities, the thick myocardial layer consisting of cardiac muscle, and the epicardium on the outside, which is part of the serous pericardium. The muscle arrangement includes features such as the trabeculae carneae inside the ventricles.

The left ventricle wall is notably thicker than the right, reflecting the higher pressure required to pump blood into the systemic circulation compared with the pulmonary circuit. The right ventricle wall is thinner and more crescent-shaped. The ventricular wall receives its blood supply from the coronary arteries: the left ventricle mainly from the left coronary artery (including the left anterior descending and circumflex branches) and the right ventricle from the right coronary artery.

Functionally, the ventricular wall contracts during systole to eject blood: the left ventricle sends blood into the aorta, and the right ventricle sends blood into the pulmonary artery. During diastole, the walls relax to allow filling. Clinically, the ventricular wall can be affected by hypertrophy, dilatation, infarction with scar formation, or ventricular aneurysm. Imaging modalities such as echocardiography and cardiac MRI are used to assess wall thickness and motion.

See also: left ventricle, right ventricle, myocardium, endocardium, epicardium.