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Genesis of Cardiac Arrhythmias Roles of Calcium and Delayed Potassium Channels in the Heart

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Molecular Biology of Membrane Transport Disorders

Abstract

Electrical activity underlies the control of the frequency, strength, and duration of contraction of the heart. During the cardiac cycle, a regular rhythmic pattern must be established in time-dependent changes in ionic conductances in order to ensure events that underlie normal cardiac function. Electrical impulses, originating at the sinoatrial (SA) node, are conducted throughout the atria until they converge at the atrioventricular (AV) node, pass through the bundle of His and the Purkinje fiber conducting system, and eventually excite the working myocardial cells of both ventricles. Coordination of these cellular events is ensured by the unique electrical properties of the different cell types of the heart as well as the junctional connections that join them. Rapid conduction in the His-Purkinje network ensures uniform and synchronous contraction of the ventricle; slow conduction through the AV node coordinates atrial and ventricular contraction. Pacemaker activity of the SA node determines heart rate and latent pacemaker properties of both the AV node and the Purkinje fiber network serve as important pacing reserves.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York, 10032, USA

    Robert S. Kass

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  1. Robert S. Kass
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA

    Stanley G. Schultz

  2. University of Arkansas College of Medicine, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

    Thomas E. Andreoli

  3. Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    Arthur M. Brown

  4. The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Douglas M. Fambrough

  5. Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    Joseph F. Hoffman

  6. University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

    Michael J. Welsh

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© 1996 Plenum Press, New York

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Kass, R.S. (1996). Genesis of Cardiac Arrhythmias Roles of Calcium and Delayed Potassium Channels in the Heart. In: Schultz, S.G., Andreoli, T.E., Brown, A.M., Fambrough, D.M., Hoffman, J.F., Welsh, M.J. (eds) Molecular Biology of Membrane Transport Disorders. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1143-0_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1143-0_29

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8446-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-1143-0

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