Geert Kleinnibbelink

General Introduction and Outline of Thesis 13 1 Figure 1 . Schematic overview of the circulation hypothesis by Galenus (A) and Harvey (B) (source: Aird et al. (2011) 2 ) causing the pressure to increase and exceed the pressure in the pulmonary artery, which leads to opening of the pulmonary valve and blood flows to the lung where it becomes oxygenated. The oxygenated blood is then carried to the left atrium (LA) by the pulmonary veins. During the diastolic phase, blood enters the left ventricle (LV) by passing through the mitral valve. During the systolic phase, the LV contracts to overcome the pressure in the systemic circulation to deliver the oxygenated blood to the tissues. 3, 4