Anatomy and Pathology of the Cardiac Conduction System

Roshan Karki; Anvi Raina; Fatima M Ezzeddine; Melanie C Bois; Samuel J Asirvatham

doi:10.1016/j.ccep.2021.06.003

Anatomy and Pathology of the Cardiac Conduction System

Card Electrophysiol Clin. 2021 Dec;13(4):569-584. doi: 10.1016/j.ccep.2021.06.003.

Authors

Roshan Karki¹, Anvi Raina¹, Fatima M Ezzeddine¹, Melanie C Bois², Samuel J Asirvatham³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
² Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
³ Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. Electronic address: asirvatham.samuel@mayo.edu.

PMID: 34689887
DOI: 10.1016/j.ccep.2021.06.003

Abstract

The cardiac conduction system is formed of histologically and electrophysiologically distinct specialized tissues uniquely located in the human heart. Understanding the anatomy and pathology of the cardiac conduction system is imperative to an interventional electrophysiologist to perform safe ablation and device therapy for the management of cardiac arrhythmias and heart failure. The current review summarizes the normal and developmental anatomy of the cardiac conduction system, its variation in the normal heart and congenital anomalies, and its pathology and discusses important clinical pearls for the proceduralist.

Keywords: Atrioventricular node; His bundle; Left bundle; Purkinje fibers; Right bundle; Sinus node.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Atrioventricular Node*
Bundle of His
Heart Conduction System
Heart Failure*
Humans