Heart valves (English)

Posterosuperior view of the heart, with the atria removed to expose the heart valves and surrounding structures. All four heart valves have 3 cusps or leaflets each, except for the left atrioventricular or mitral valve, which only has 2 cusps (there may be small accessory cusps between the two major cusps of this valve). The right/left/posterior semilunar cusps of the aortic valve are commonly referred to as the right coronary, left coronary and noncoronary leaflets in clinical practice. Other terminological variations include the anterior/posterior leaflets of the right atrioventricular valve which can more accurately be referred to as the superior/inferior leaflets, respectively. The heart valves are anchored by the fibrous skeleton of the heart, which can be seen as the fibrous rings of left and right atrioventricular valves (a.k.a. mitral and tricuspid valves).