the detailed anatomy and histology of the atrioventricular bundle (avb) was studied in 10 adult cats (5 males and 5 females). the trunk of the atrioventricular bundle was a direct continuation of the atrioventricular node (avn) with no sharp line of demarcation between node and the bundle. the avb of the male cats measured 6.24 mm in length, 0.27 mm in width and 0.65 mm in thickness, while in t...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES The development of ablation techniques for supraventricular arrhythmias in patients with Ebstein's anomaly have led to a need for better understanding of the morphology of the triangle of Koch and the position of the atrioventricular (AV) node in this structure. METHODS The study involved 17 human hearts: 11 with Ebstein's anomaly (age range: 37 weeks' gestation to...

The anatomy of the conduction system of the heart so relevant in the contemporary invasive cardiology is not fully understood. It has turned out that ablation procedures bring new information as to its structure and function, but in some cases can result in complete a-v block. Atrioventricular nodal artery located within the nodal-perinodal tissue can probably be damaged during the ablation pro...

The fat pad at the junction of the inferior vena cava and inferior left atrium is the area of convergence of vagal projections into the atrioventricular node (AVN) region. The present study investigated whether radiofrequency (RF) ablation applied to the area around the coronary sinus (CS) ostium would impair vagal input to the AVN in the canine heart. Twenty-four dogs were anesthetized by sodi...

We characterized beta-adrenoceptor subtypes in the atrioventricular node of the rat heart by quantitative autoradiography. Consecutive 16-microns-thick sections from single rat hearts containing the atrioventricular node were incubated with increasing concentrations of [125I]iodocyanopindolol. After exposure to [3H]Ultrofilm, optical densities corresponding to the atrioventricular node were det...

BACKGROUND Ablation of complex arrhythmias would be greatly facilitated by more precise control of ablation catheters. A feasibility study was performed in animals to evaluate a novel magnetic guidance system (MGS) that generates a magnetic field to control the movement and position of a magnetic ablation catheter. METHODS AND RESULTS The MGS is composed of a digital biplanar fluoroscope with...