Focal Lesions in the Canine Bundle of His: THEIR EFFECT ON VENTRICULAR EXCITATION

¹ Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, and the Veterans Administration Hospital Houston, Texas 77031

The alterations in ventricular excitation resulting from production of discrete punctate electrocautery lesions in the canine bundle of His were studied. Electrocardiographic changes were correlated with lesions identified anatomically by microscopic examination of the atrioventricular bundle. Although partial or complete atrioventricular block developed from lesions at several levels of the atrioventricular bundle, changes in the form of the QRS complex appeared only when lesions involved the distal portion of the bundle. Such QRS changes were recorded in 21 of 32 instances when the lesion involved the branching portion of the common bundle but in none of 6 instances when the lesion involved only the nonbranching portion of the common bundle. This study, then, provides evidence for functionally distinct longitudinal fascicles only within the distal portion of the common bundle. The syncytial character of the terminal fascicular (Purkinje) network may minimize the electrocardiographic evidence for such functional specificity within the common bundle.

Submitted on October 18, 1971
Accepted on August 5, 1972

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Ghio, C. Constantin, C. Klersy, A. Serio, A. Fontana, C. Campana, and L. Tavazzi Interventricular and intraventricular dyssynchrony are common in heart failure patients, regardless of QRS duration Eur. Heart J., April 1, 2004; 25(7): 571 - 578. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G Breithardt, H Kuhn, D Hammel, H.-H Scheld, L Seipel, and D. Bocker Cardiac resynchronization therapy into the next decade: from the past to morbidity/mortality trials Eur. Heart J. Suppl., April 1, 2002; 4(suppl_D): D102 - D110. [Abstract] [PDF]