15. Chest (heart) MRI #8, axial plane

The plane of imaging is at the level of the T9 vertebra, and demonstrates all four cardiac chambers simultaneously. The apex of the heart points anteriorly and to the left (well demonstrated here) and inferiorly as well. The ventricles can be imagined as cones sharing the cardiac apex with their bases facing superiorly, posteriorly, and to the right.

Note that the chamber with the thickest myocardial wall is the L. ventricle, and that at this level the L. ventricle provides the left contour of the cardiac silhouette, and the R. atrium the right contour.