What are the 4 areas on the chest where heart sounds are produced?

The aortic area, pulmonic area, tricuspid area and mitral area are areas on the surface of the chest where the heart is auscultated. Heart sounds result from reverberation within the blood associated with the sudden block of flow reversal by the valves closing.

What are the four areas of auscultation and what do they correspond to?

The four standard points of auscultation for the heart are:

Aortic – on the patients right side of the sternum.
Pulmonary – on the left-hand side of the patients’s sternum.
Tricuspid – in the fourth intercostal space, along the lower-left border of the sternum.

Where is the mitral area?

The mitral valve is located in the left side of the heart, between the left atrium and left ventricle. Oxygen-rich blood flows into the left atrium from the pulmonary veins. When the left atrium fills with blood, the mitral valve opens to allow blood to flow to the left ventricle.

What is the mitral area?

The mitral valve is typically 4 to 6 square centimetres (0.62 to 0.93 sq in) in area and sits in the left heart between the left atrium and the left ventricle. It has two leaflets (or “cusps”), an anteromedial leaflet and a posterolateral leaflet.

What is S3 and S4?

The third heart sound (S3) occurs in the rapid filling period of early diastole. The fourth heart sound (S4) occurs in late diastolic periods right before the first heart sound. The presence of S4 is due to the forceful contraction of the atria in an effort to overcome an abnormally stiff or hypertrophic ventricle [8].

What causes the 3rd heart sound?

The third heart sound (S3), also known as the “ventricular gallop,” occurs just after S2 when the mitral valve opens, allowing passive filling of the left ventricle. The S3 sound is actually produced by the large amount of blood striking a very compliant left ventricle.