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Transmembrane Potentials of Single Fibres of the Atrio-ventricular Node

Abstract

RECORDS of the electrical activity of the atrio-ventricular node obtained with extracellular electrodes1,2 have not provided a clear picture of the mechanism of normal atrio-ventricular delay or the changes responsible for partial and complete atrio-ventricular dissociation. In the experiments to be described the trans-membrane potentials of single fibres of the atrio-ventricular node and bundle of His have been recorded by means of intracellular micro-electrodes in order to obtain an answer to these questions. The atrio-ventricular node and His bundle have been studied either in the intact perfused rabbit heart or in isolated preparations of the right atrium and interatrial septum of the same heart. A modified Tyrode solution maintained at 33° C. was employed in both types of experiments. In most instances two intracellular micro-electrodes were employed simultaneously to demonstrate conduction delay and site of origin of activity. Similar results were obtained from both intact and isolated preparations.

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HOFFMAN, B., DE CARVALHO, A. & DE MELLO, W. Transmembrane Potentials of Single Fibres of the Atrio-ventricular Node. Nature 181, 66–67 (1958). https://doi.org/10.1038/181066a0

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