• 17 parts
  • Checked October 2026

Anterior Surface of Heart Diagram, with the Back and Base

The outside of the heart in two views: its grooves, edges, auricles and base.

Anterior Surface of Heart Diagram, with the Back and Base

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Apex
  2. Aortic arch
  3. Pulmonary trunk
  4. Right auricle
  5. Left auricle
  6. Coronary sulcus
  7. Anterior interventricular sulcus
  8. Right border
  9. Inferior border
  10. Left border
  11. Base
  12. Pulmonary veins
  13. Superior vena cava
  14. Inferior vena cava
  15. Coronary sinus
  16. Posterior interventricular sulcus
  17. Diaphragmatic surface

Drawn for this site on 2026-10-04 by script. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: inside the heart

All 17 parts on the diagram

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From the front 10

  1. Apex The tip of the heart. It points down and to the left.
  2. Aortic arch The curve of the aorta above the heart.
  3. Pulmonary trunk Leaves the right ventricle and carries blood toward the lungs.
  4. Right auricle An ear-shaped pouch of the right atrium.
  5. Left auricle An ear-shaped pouch of the left atrium.
  6. Coronary sulcus The groove between the atria and the ventricles.
  7. Anterior interventricular sulcus The groove on the front between the two ventricles.
  8. Right border The edge formed by the right atrium.
  9. Inferior border The lower edge, formed by the ventricles.
  10. Left border The edge formed mainly by the left ventricle.

From behind 7

  1. Base The back of the heart, formed mainly by the left atrium.
  2. Pulmonary veins Four veins from the lungs. They open into the left atrium.
  3. Superior vena cava Opens into the right atrium's upper part.
  4. Inferior vena cava Opens into the lower part of the right atrium.
  5. Coronary sinus A wide vein lying in the coronary sulcus.
  6. Posterior interventricular sulcus The groove on the back between the two ventricles.
  7. Diaphragmatic surface Rests on the diaphragm. It is formed by the two ventricles.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-10-01 and kept only where two of these use it. (1) Gray's Anatomy (1918), The Heart, https://www.bartleby.com/107/138.html : the base, apex, sternocostal and diaphragmatic surfaces, the margins, the coronary sulcus and the two longitudinal sulci (its names for the interventricular sulci), the auricula of each atrium. (2) Wikipedia, Heart, Anatomy of the human heart, Atrium (heart), Coronary sulcus, Anterior interventricular sulcus and Posterior interventricular sulcus, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart . (3) TeachMeAnatomy, Surfaces and Borders of the Heart, https://teachmeanatomy.info/thorax/organs/heart/borders-sinuses-sulci/ . (4) Kenhub, Heart, https://www.kenhub.com/en/library/anatomy/heart . Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-04 by script. The outline of the heart, the place and size of the great vessels, the form of the two auricles and the course of the grooves are laid out after two public domain plates of Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, 20th edition, 1918 (Henry Gray, plates after Henry Vandyke Carter; public domain; files from Wikimedia Commons): fig. 492 'Sternocostal surface of heart' (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gray492.png) and fig. 491 'Base and diaphragmatic surface of heart' (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gray491.png). Own drawing in plain geometry, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

This anterior surface of heart diagram shows the outside of the heart from the front. A second view is the back of the heart, with its base. Read the names, then press Quiz me.

Read the full guide

From the front

The front, or sternocostal surface, is mostly right ventricle. The coronary sulcus is the groove between the atria and the ventricles, and the anterior interventricular sulcus runs down the front between the two ventricles. Each atrium has an ear-shaped pouch, the auricle, beside the great arteries. The right atrium forms the right border; the left ventricle forms most of the left border and the apex.

From behind

The base is the back of the heart, formed mainly by the left atrium, where the four pulmonary veins open. The diaphragmatic surface, formed by the ventricles, rests on the diaphragm. The coronary sinus lies in the coronary sulcus between the two.

  • Right and left are the heart's own. In the front view the right border is at the left of the picture.
  • Old books call the two long grooves the anterior and posterior longitudinal sulcus. The quiz accepts both.

Questions and answers

What forms the anterior surface of the heart?

Mostly the right ventricle. Above the coronary sulcus the atria and their auricles complete it. It is also called the sternocostal surface, because it lies behind the sternum and the rib cartilages.

What is the base of the heart?

The base is the back surface, not the bottom. It is formed mainly by the left atrium, with a small part of the right atrium. The pulmonary veins and the two venae cavae open there.

What is the auricle of the heart?

A small ear-shaped pouch that projects from each atrium. The right auricle overlaps the root of the aorta and the left one the root of the pulmonary trunk. Older books used auricle for the whole atrium.

Is this the art labeling activity external anatomy of the heart posterior surface?

No. That is a publisher's homework title. This drawing is our own, and its second view shows the back of the heart, so you can practice the names here. We have no answer key for any activity.

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