Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 159 views

    The Heart Has Several Pacemakers Known As Autonomic Foci

    Uploaded by

    Anonymous mLYupGyN
    The heart contains several pacemaker cells that each fire at their own intrinsic rate, but the sinoatrial (SA) node normally controls the overall heart rate. When the SA node fires, it activates the other pacemaker cells and causes them to fire more rapidly than their intrinsic rates through overdrive suppression. In pathological conditions where the SA node is damaged, the pacemaker cell with the next fastest intrinsic rate can take over in controlling the heart rate. For example, if a heart attack damages the tissue between the SA node and atrial pacemaker cells, the atrial cells' intrinsic rate would determine the new heart rate. The pacemaker potential is what drives the rhythmic firing of pacemaker cells in the heart.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    The Heart Has Several Pacemakers Known As Autonomic Foci

    Uploaded by

    Anonymous mLYupGyN
    159 views1 page
    The heart contains several pacemaker cells that each fire at their own intrinsic rate, but the sinoatrial (SA) node normally controls the overall heart rate. When the SA node fires, it activates the other pacemaker cells and causes them to fire more rapidly than their intrinsic rates through overdrive suppression. In pathological conditions where the SA node is damaged, the pacemaker cell with the next fastest intrinsic rate can take over in controlling the heart rate. For example, if a heart attack damages the tissue between the SA node and atrial pacemaker cells, the atrial cells' intrinsic rate would determine the new heart rate. The pacemaker potential is what drives the rhythmic firing of pacemaker cells in the heart.

    Original Description:

    The Heart beat

    Original Title

    The Heart Has Several Pacemakers Known as Autonomic Foci

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The heart contains several pacemaker cells that each fire at their own intrinsic rate, but the sinoatrial (SA) node normally controls the overall heart rate. When the SA node fires, it activates the other pacemaker cells and causes them to fire more rapidly than their intrinsic rates through overdrive suppression. In pathological conditions where the SA node is damaged, the pacemaker cell with the next fastest intrinsic rate can take over in controlling the heart rate. For example, if a heart attack damages the tissue between the SA node and atrial pacemaker cells, the atrial cells' intrinsic rate would determine the new heart rate. The pacemaker potential is what drives the rhythmic firing of pacemaker cells in the heart.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    159 views1 page

    The Heart Has Several Pacemakers Known As Autonomic Foci

    Uploaded by

    Anonymous mLYupGyN
    The heart contains several pacemaker cells that each fire at their own intrinsic rate, but the sinoatrial (SA) node normally controls the overall heart rate. When the SA node fires, it activates the other pacemaker cells and causes them to fire more rapidly than their intrinsic rates through overdrive suppression. In pathological conditions where the SA node is damaged, the pacemaker cell with the next fastest intrinsic rate can take over in controlling the heart rate. For example, if a heart attack damages the tissue between the SA node and atrial pacemaker cells, the atrial cells' intrinsic rate would determine the new heart rate. The pacemaker potential is what drives the rhythmic firing of pacemaker cells in the heart.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 1

    The heart has several pacemakers known as autonomic foci, each which fires at its own essential rate:

    The potentials will normally travel in order SA node atrial foci junctional foci ventricular
    foci. Pacemaker potentials are fired not only by SA node, but also by the other foci. However, the
    other firing frequencies are slower than the one of the SA node. Normally, all the foci will end up
    firing at the SA node rate, not their essential rate. The other foci attempt to fire at their essential rate,
    but they are activated by the SA node before they can fire. This rapid firing causes all the foci to fire
    faster than their essential rates, a phenomenon known as overdrive-suppression. Thus, in the normal,
    healthy heart, only the SA node essential rate is observable. However, in pathological
    conditions, the essential rate becomes apparent. Consider a heart attack which
    damages the region of the heart between the SA node and the atrial foci:
    Sinoatrial node |block| atrial foci junctional foci ventricular foci. The other
    foci will not see the SA node firing; however, they will see the atrial foci. The
    heart will now beat at the essential rate of the atrial foci.

    In the pacemaking cells of the heart , the pacemaker potential is the slow,
    positive increase in voltage across the cell's membrane that occurs between the
    end of one action potential and the beginning of the next action potential. This
    increase in membrane potential is what causes the cell membrane, which
    typically maintains a resting membrane potential of -70 mV, to reach the
    threshold potential and trigger the next action potential, therefore the
    pacemaker potential is what drives the self-generated rhythmic firing of
    pacemaker cells. The sinoatrial node is a complex tissue within the right atrium
    containing pacemaker cells that normally determine the intrinsic firing rate for
    the entire heart, the pacemaker potential is the main determinant of the heart
    rate. Because the pacemaker potential represents the non-contracting time
    between heart beats (diastole), it is also called the diastolic depolarization. The
    amount of net inward current required to move the cell membrane potential
    during the pacemaker phase is extremely small but this net flux arises from time
    to time changing contribution of several currents that flow with different voltage
    and time dependence. Evidence of support of the active presence of K +, Ca2+, Na+
    channels and Sodium pump mechanism.

    References
    Campbell, Neil. A (1996). Biology. Benjamin Cummings. p. G21.
    Boron, Walter. F; Emile Boulpaep (2003). Medical Physiology. Elsevier Saunders.
    p. 487

    You might also like