Difference in Thickness Between Right Ventricle and Left Ventricle of Adult Human Heart: A Cadaveric Study

Abstract

Background: The left ventricle is longer and narrower than the right ventricle, extending from its base in the plane of the atrioventricular groove to the cardiac apex. The wall of the left ventricle is three times thicker (8-12 mm) than those of right ventricle. The wall of the right ventricle is relatively thin (3–5 mm), the ratio of the thickness of the two ventricular walls usually being 1:3. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is characterized by myocardial wall thickening, particularly a disproportionate thickening of the interventricular septum in comparison with the posterior wall. An athlete’s heart may physiologically hypertrophy but in a uniform fashion. The objective of the study is to determine the thickness of wall of right and left ventricle of adult human heart and ratio of thickness of right and left ventricle. Materials and Methods: Adult human hearts were procured from the specimens preserved in Anatomy Department of Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences. A cross-sectional study was conducted on forty- four specimen of adult heart. The measurement of the right and left ventricular wall was done with digital vernier caliper. The measurements were done at three levels in both right and left ventricle: upper, middle and lower part. Result and Conclusion: The ratio of the thickness of the wall of right and left ventricle is well known as 1:3. However, in our study we found the ratio as 1:1.4. We found the thickness of the right ventricle thicker than the normal thickness reported in previous studies. We wish to continue the study with a larger sample size. KEY WORDS: Heart, Right ventricle, left ventricle, Thickness Ratio, Myocardium.