By using one's senses and an orderly approach, the physician is able to correlate bedside observations and laboratory findings with both the physiologic events of the cardiac cycle and the basic elements of cardiac anatomy, as shown on the following specimen.
Gross pathology specimen
This is a specimen from an accident victim with a normal heart. The major structures of the left heart are well seen including the areas of the left atrium, left ventricle, and aorta, as well as the anterior mitral leaflet, chordae tendineae, papillary muscles, ventricular wall, the three aortic cusps, and the coronary ostia.