CARDIAC ANATOMY and PHYSIOLOGY

The heart is a cone-shaped, muscular organ. It’s located in the chest, behind the sternum in the mediastinal cavity (or mediastinum),between the lungs, and in front of the spine. The heart lies tilted in this area like an upside-down triangle. The top of the heart, or its base, lies just below the second rib; the bottom of the heart, or its apex, tilts forward and down, toward the left side of the body, and rests on the diaphragm.