Atrium (heart) similar function. Some animals (amphibians and reptiles) have a three-chambered heart, in which the blood from each atrium is mixed in the single ventricle before being pumped to the aorta. In these animals, the left atrium still serves the purpose of collecting blood from the pulmonary veins. In some fish, the circulatory system is very simple: a two-chambered heart including one atrium and one ventricle. Among sharks, the heart consists of four chambers arranged serially (and therefore called a serial heart): blood flows into the most posterior chamber, the sinus venosus, and then to the atrium which moves it to
Athletic heart syndrome signals the heart to pump more blood through the body to counteract the oxygen deficit building in the skeletal muscles. Enlargement of the heart is a natural physical adaptation of the body to deal with the high pressures and large amounts of blood that can affect the heart during these periods of time. Over time, the body will increase both the chamber size of the left ventricle, and the muscle mass and wall thickness of the heart. Cardiac output, the amount of blood that leaves the heart in a given time period (i.e. liters per minute), is proportional to both