The Human Heart

This course will explore the workings of the human heart. Using video images, 3D reconstructions, and wax-impregnated hearts, we will examine the anatomy, physiology, evolutionary development, and embryological development of this key organ. We will explore how the heart works and what keeps it going – and discuss how things can go wrong and result in various types of heart problems.

The diagnostic and imaging tools that allow physicians to examine the heart will also be surveyed, from the stethoscope and the electrocardiogram to angiography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging. Childhood heart disease and treatments will also be explored, followed by a brief review of some of the more common adult heart diseases and their treatments. Over the course’s six-sessions, we hope to impart a better understanding of this highly complex and essential organ.

Class Recordings:

Class 1 - October 6, 2022

Class 2 - October 13, 2022

Class 3 - October 20, 2022

Class 4 - November 3, 2022

Class 5 - November 10, 2022

Class 6 - November 17, 2022

Group Leader: STEPHEN SANDERS
Venue: The Engineering Center
Meets on: Thursdays 1:00 to 3:00 pm
Starting: 10/6/2022
Sessions: 6
Class Size: 24
Teaching Style: Lecture and discussion
Weekly Preparation: None
Group Leader Biography:

Stephen Sanders was Director of the Cardiac Noninvasive Laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital from 1983 to 1994 and then Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of the Division of Pediatric Cardiology at Duke University for seven years. He then chaired the Medical Surgical Department of Pediatric Cardiology at Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesu in Rome for five years. He returned to Boston Children’s Hospital in 2010 to direct the Cardiac Registry, a large collection of normal and pathologic human hearts. His primary interests include the development and pathology of congenital heart defects and the correlation between pathology and clinical imaging studies.