State the exact location of the following structures:
Papillary muscles
Topic: Location of papillary muscles
Answer
Cone-shaped muscular projections arising from the INNER WALL OF THE VENTRICLES of the heart.
The papillary muscles are attached by tendinous cords — the CHORDAE TENDINAE — to the flaps of the atrioventricular valves.
THEIR PURPOSE: when the ventricles contract, the pressure inside is enormous and would turn the valve flaps inside out into the atria. The papillary muscles contract at the same moment and pull on the chordae tendinae, holding the flaps firmly in position so that blood cannot flow backwards.
The two structures always go together, and naming both in an answer about either shows you understand the mechanism rather than the anatomy alone.