Ventricle (heart)

Overview
In the heart, a ventricle is a heart chamber which collects blood from an atrium (another heart chamber that is smaller than a ventricle) and pumps it out of the heart.

In a four-chambered heart, such as that in humans, there are two ventricles: the right ventricle pumps blood into the pulmonary circulation for the lungs, and the left ventricle pumps blood into the systemic circulation for the rest of the body. (See Double circulatory system for details.)

Ventricles have thicker walls than the atria, and thus can withstand higher blood pressure. Comparing the left and right ventricle, the left ventricle has thicker walls because it needs to pump blood to the whole body.