title: The atria: from morphology to function.
abstract: The fact that some atrial and ventricular disorders (e.g., atrial fibrillation and heart failure) have a structural basis and cause atrial myocardial remodeling has led to increasing attention being paid to the atrial chambers. Furthermore, the rapid development of mapping and ablative procedures as a means of diagnosing and treating supraventricular arrhythmias has generated considerable interest in atrial gross anatomy, histology and ultrastructure. The aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive overview of the structure of the left and right atria (at macroscopic, histological and ultrastructural level) in relation to their function. In addition to analyzing normal atria, we also discuss functional anatomy in the case of atrial fibrillation and heart failure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Section of Pathology, University of Parma, Parma, Italy. domenico.corradi@unipr.it
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Corradi
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maestri
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Macchi
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Callegari
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016275:Atrial Function; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular