Slow abnormal conduction in the low right atrium: its anatomic basis and relevance to atrial reentry

To characterize slow abnormal conduction in the low right atrium, which is known to be responsible for atrial flutter, electrophysiologic findings were correlated with anatomic features in a canine model of atrial flutter with ligation of the crista terminalis in the midright atrium. Activation in the low right atrium was mapped with a patch electrode containing 52 bipolar electrodes and a multiplexing system. A particular region in the low right atrium showed atrioventricular node-like electrophysiologic properties, a rate-dependent conduction delay, and Wenckebach periodicity. This area coincided with an area responsible for slow conduction during atrial flutter and unidirectional block at its initiation. Both pilsicainide and E-4031 preferentially blocked conduction in the specific area, leading to the termination of atrial flutter. Although refractoriness could not explain the abnormal conduction, anatomic studies consistently found the specific region to be in or around a thick muscle bundle, that is, the crista terminalis, or a thick pectinate muscle branching from the crista, located perpendicular to the wavefront of the pacing impulse and atrial flutter. These electrophysiologic and anatomic findings suggest that slow abnormal and atrioventricular node-like conduction over a thick muscle bundle, which is a normal anatomic feature of the low right atrium, plays a role in the initiation, maintenance, and termination of atrial reentry.