Patient education
The Heart’s Electrical System
The electrical system coordinates pumping of the four chambers and controls heart rate so the heart can speed up or slow down as the body’s needs change. A problem anywhere along this path can cause an arrhythmia.
Purpose of the electrical system
Recovered education stated that the purpose of the electrical system is to coordinate the pumping of the four chambers and to control the heart rate. That allows the heart to speed up and slow down as demands change.
The natural pacemaker
The natural pacemaker is the sino-atrial (SA) node, a small area of specialized electrical tissue high on the right side of the heart in the right atrium. It starts the electrical signal.
The signal travels through the atria, causing them to contract, then down through the atrioventricular (AV) node between the atria and the ventricles.
From the AV node to the ventricles
The signal continues through the bundle of His, which separates into the right and left bundle branches, then out to the ventricular muscle through the Purkinje fibers. Those fibers are the final “thin wires” that spread the signal through the ventricular muscle.
As the impulse spreads, the muscles contract and the ventricles pump blood to the rest of the body.
What a normal sequence produces
This coordinated flow produces a normal heartbeat, sometimes called sinus rhythm. An EKG records that sequence as a pattern of waves.
If the SA node is too slow, if the AV node blocks the signal, or if an extra pathway or irritable focus takes over, the pulse can become too slow, too fast, or irregular.
How this relates to electrophysiology care
A cardiac electrophysiologist focuses on this wiring. Tests such as an EKG, Holter monitor, or EP study are ways to see how the system is working when symptoms or risk raise a question.
This page cannot diagnose a conduction problem.
When to contact a physician
Call our Reseda office if you have been told you have an electrical-system problem or want to ask about evaluation. Call 911 for fainting, severe chest pain, or collapse.