The cardiac conduction system

The intrinsic conduction system of the mammalian heart is comprised of several specialized subpopulations of cells that either spontaneously generate electrical activity (pacemaker cells) or preferentially conduct this activity throughout the cardiac chambers in a coordinated fashion. This chapter will discuss the details of this known anatomy and 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 that can be identified and measured with recent advances in imaging techniques. The recording or active sensing of these potentials is critical in cardiology. This chapter aims to present our basic understanding of the cardiac conduction system, as a means 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 care.