Interventricular septum
Septum interventriculare
CardiovascularOrgansThorax
- What it is
- The thick muscular wall between the two ventricles. It bulges into the right ventricle, which is why the RV cavity is crescent-shaped in cross-section; a small thin membranous part lies just below the aortic valve.
- Function
- Separates oxygenated from deoxygenated blood and contracts with the left ventricle; it carries the bundle of His and the bundle branches.
- Size
- About 10–12 mm thick (up to ~15 mm is normal on echo); ~9 cm long from base to apex.
- Clinical note
- Ventricular septal defect (VSD) is the commonest congenital heart defect; abnormal thickening of the septum occurs in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.