title: Functional morphology of the pig sinoatrial node.
abstract: The porcine sinoatrial node in an isolated right atrium preparation is characterized by unifocal impulse generation. It has a rather elongated shape and the larger part of its volume is taken up by collagen and fibroblasts. The impulse appears to emerge from a site where the percentage of myofilaments is relatively low. The impulse is propagated faster towards the crista terminalis than to the interatrial septum with preference for the oblique-upward direction. A very large zone of cells with low excitability is located at the interatrial septal side of the node.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Opthof
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Jonge
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Jongsma
authors.forename: L N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Bouman
mesh_terms: D008841:Actin Cytoskeleton / Q000648:ultrastructure; D000818:Animals; D001683:Biological Clocks; D003094:Collagen / Q000502:physiology; D004594:Electrophysiology; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D012849:Sinoatrial Node / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D013552:Swine; D009435:Synaptic Transmission
chemical_list: D003094:Collagen