Transmembrane potentials of canine AV junctional tissues

The atrioventricular (AV) junction comprises the AV node, His bundle (HB), and specialized tissues proximal to the node called paranodal fibers (PNF). In the present study, an in vitro, dissection-exposed canine right atrial (RA), transitional fiber (TF), AV junctional preparation was used. The TF and PNF formed a pathway running along the base of the septal cusp of the tricuspid valve (SCTV). In the first experiment, impulses elicited at the RA were monitored to propagate sequentially through the TF, PNF, AV node, and then the HB. This functional evidence supports the concept that a conduction pathway connecting the RA and the AV node exists along the base of the SCTV. This internodal pathway is referred to as the septal cusp pathway. In another experiment, transmembrane potentials and Vmax were determined on each of the AV junctional tissues. Results showed that PNF had the lowest Vmax (2.5 V/sec), followed by AV node (7.0 V/sec) and HB (33 V/sec). This finding showed that PNF, and not the AV node, has the lowest Vmax, suggesting that the PNF has the lowest conductivity among the AV junctional tissues, and this study advances our understanding on the mechanism of AV conduction delay in dog hearts.