grooves and sulci

Last reviewed 01/2018

Often, the margins of the chambers within the heart are visible externally by virtue of a number of interposed grooves or sulci. The grooves lie on the superficial surface of the myocardium. They may be difficult to visualise due to their investment by the fatty connective tissue beneath the epicardium and the presence of vessels running along them. The key sulci are the:

  • atrioventricular groove
  • interventricular grooves
  • sulcus terminalis