The Cardiac Conduction System

Authors: Timothy G Laske Maneesh Shrivastav Paul A Iaizzo

Publish Date: 2015

Volume: , Issue: , Pages: 215-233

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Abstract

The intrinsic conduction system of the heart is comprised of several specialized subpopulations of cells that either spontaneously generate electrical activity pacemaker cells or preferentially conduct this activity throughout the chambers in a coordinated fashion This chapter will discuss the details of this known anatomy as well as put such discoveries into a historical context The cardiac action potential underlies signaling within the heart and the various populations of myocytes will elicit signature waveforms The recording or active sensing of these potentials is important in both research and clinical arenas This chapter aims to present a basic understanding of the cardiac conduction system to provide the reader with a foundation for future research and reading on this topic The information in this chapter is not comprehensive and should not be used to make decisions relating to patient careWe would like to thank Medtronic Training and Education and Gorinka Shrivastav for graphical support Rebecca Rose DVM Louanne Cheever and Alexander Hill PhD of Medtronic for the histological sectioning and staining Anthony Weinhaus PhD for additional details on atrial anatomy and Igor Efimov PhD from George Washington University for 3D images of the human atrioventricular node

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