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Anterolateral head of lateral papillary muscle of ventricle: anatomy, location and function

This is the anterolateral papillary muscle (or its head) of the left ventricle, a muscular projection supporting the mitral valve. It tightens the chordae tendineae during ventricular contraction to prevent the mitral valve leaflets from prolapsing into the left atrium.

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Highlighted in the model: Anterolateral head of lateral papillary muscle of ventricle. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

Anterolateral head of lateral papillary muscle of ventricle at a glance

What it is
This is the anterolateral papillary muscle (or its head) of the left ventricle, a muscular projection supporting the mitral valve.
Location
It projects from the anterolateral wall of the left ventricle. Its chordae tendineae attach to the anterior and posterior leaflets of the mitral valve.
Function
It tightens the chordae tendineae during ventricular contraction to prevent the mitral valve leaflets from prolapsing into the left atrium.
Body system
Cardiovascular · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA7265 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • It usually has a dual blood supply (left anterior descending and circumflex arteries), unlike the posteromedial papillary muscle.

Clinical relevance

Because it has a double supply, it is less often damaged than the posteromedial muscle in infarction.

Structures next to the anterolateral head of lateral papillary muscle of ventricle

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Anterolateral head of lateral papillary muscle of ventricle (FMA7265). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §20.1 Structure and Function of Blood Vessels. Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.