US Medical Term · anatomy
Ventricle
Ventrículo
In 9 languages
| Language | Term |
|---|---|
| English | Ventricle |
| Spanish (Español) | Ventrículo |
| Chinese (中文) | 心室 |
| Korean (한국어) | 심실 |
| Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt) | Tâm thất |
| Filipino (Tagalog) | Bentrikulo |
| Portuguese (Português) | Ventrículo |
| Thai (ภาษาไทย) | หัวใจห้องล่าง |
| Japanese (日本語) | 心室 |
What it means
The ventricles are the two lower chambers of the heart — the heart's main pumping chambers. The right ventricle pumps oxygen-poor blood out to the lungs to pick up oxygen. The left ventricle, the largest and most muscular of the four chambers, pumps oxygen-rich blood out to the entire body through the aorta. Heart failure often involves the ventricles not pumping strongly enough or not relaxing properly to fill well. An ejection fraction — a number your doctor may mention — measures how much blood the left ventricle pumps out with each beat. A normal ejection fraction is 55 percent or higher.
How to say it
Sentences a patient might use with a doctor, nurse, pharmacist, or insurer:
My heart failure is because the left ventricle is not pumping as strongly as it should.
Mi insuficiencia cardíaca se debe a que el ventrículo izquierdo no bombea con la fuerza que debería.
The echocardiogram showed that my right ventricle is under extra strain because of my lung disease.
El ecocardiograma mostró que mi ventrículo derecho está bajo mayor estrés debido a mi enfermedad pulmonar.
My ejection fraction is forty percent — the nurse explained that the left ventricle should normally be above fifty-five percent.
Mi fracción de eyección es del cuarenta por ciento. La enfermera explicó que el ventrículo izquierdo normalmente debe estar por encima del cincuenta y cinco por ciento.
Where you'll see it
Related terms
Sources
Last reviewed: September 2026