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The Purkinje fibers are specialized conducting fibers composed of electrically excitable cells. [3] They are larger than cardiomyocytes with fewer myofibrils and many mitochondria. They conduct cardiac action potentials more quickly and efficiently than any of the other cells in the heart's electrical conduction system. [4]
The endocardium underlies the much more voluminous myocardium, the muscular tissue responsible for the contraction of the heart. The outer layer of the heart is termed epicardium and the heart is surrounded by a small amount of fluid enclosed by a fibrous sac called the pericardium. [2]
A slow heart rate of 60 or less beats per minute is defined as bradycardia. A fast heart rate of more than 100 beats per minute is defined as tachycardia. An arrhythmia is defined as one that is not physiological such as the lowered heart rate that a trained athlete may naturally have developed; the resting heart rates may be less than 60 bpm.
Cardiac muscle lies between the epicardium and the endocardium in the heart. [4] Cardiac muscle cells generally only contain one nucleus, located in the central region. They contain many mitochondria and myoglobin. [5] Unlike skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle cells are unicellular. [4]
The heart wall is a three-layered structure with a thick layer of myocardium sandwiched between the inner endocardium and the outer epicardium (also known as the visceral pericardium). The inner endocardium lines the cardiac chambers, covers the cardiac valves, and joins with the endothelium that
EC coupling results in the sequential contraction of the heart muscles that allows blood to be pumped, first to the lungs (pulmonary circulation) and then around the rest of the body (systemic circulation) at a rate between 60 and 100 beats every minute, when the body is at rest. [2] This rate can be altered, however, by nerves that work to ...
The bundle of His (BH) [1]: 58 or His bundle (HB) [1]: 232 (/ h ɪ s / "hiss" [2]) is a collection of heart muscle cells specialized for electrical conduction.As part of the electrical conduction system of the heart, it transmits the electrical impulses from the atrioventricular node (located between the atria and the ventricles) to the point of the apex of the fascicular branches via the ...
These categories are called epicardial (above the epicardium, or the outermost tissue of the heart) and microvascular (close to the endocardium, or the innermost tissue of the heart). [2] Reduced function of the coronary arteries can lead to decreased flow of oxygen and nutrients to the heart.