Leading ventricular cardiomyocytes

Juliana Andrea Sáchica Martínez

01200021034

Instituto del corazón

Surgical Instrumentation
UDES
2023
This article exposes the histological and functional characteristics that occur in cardiac striated
muscle tissue specialized in the conduction of electrical stimulation and its current implications in
cardiac arrhythmias.

The heart is the first functional embryonic organ with the presence of a heartbeat around day 21
of gestation, necessary for the distribution and exchange of nutrients, oxygen, and waste products,
of which the electrical conduction system is a fundamental part. Without this system, synchronous
contraction of the myocardium would not be possible.

Cardiac striated muscle tissue is composed of three types of cardiomyocytes: contractile, which
make up the bulk of cardiac muscle; secretors, located only at the atrial level, responsible for the
production and release of atrial natriuretic peptide and, conductive, that make up the electrical
conduction system of the heart, of which the ventricular conducting cardiomyocytes (also called
Purkinje fibers) are part, which They are first described in 1839 by Johannes Evangelista Purkinje,
an anatomist and physiologist; studies in birds and mammals showed its association with the
atrioventricular node and its function of electrical propagation to contractile cardiac myocytes.

Questions:
1. What is the main feature of ventricular conducting cardiomyocytes?

a) Its ability to generate an action potential

b) Its ability to contract

c) Its ability to transmit electrical signals

2. What is cardiac resynchronization therapy?

a) A treatment for ventricular tachycardia

b) A treatment for atrial fibrillation

c) A treatment for heart failure

3. What is the main goal of cardiac resynchronization therapy?

a) Restore the normal sinus rhythm of the heart

b) Improve the contractile function of the heart

c) Reduce the risk of cardiac arrhythmias