Contrast Enhanced Micro-Computed Tomography Resolves the 3-Dimensional Morphology of the Cardiac Conduction System in Mammalian Hearts
The general anatomy of the cardiac conduction system (CCS) has been known for 100 years, but its complex and irregular three-dimensional (3D) geometry is not so well understood. This is largely because the conducting tissue is not distinct from the surrounding tissue by dissection. The best descript...
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| Format: | Online |
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Public Library of Science
2012
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| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3324466/ |
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pubmed-33244662012-04-16 Contrast Enhanced Micro-Computed Tomography Resolves the 3-Dimensional Morphology of the Cardiac Conduction System in Mammalian Hearts Stephenson, Robert S. Boyett, Mark R. Hart, George Nikolaidou, Theodora Cai, Xue Corno, Antonio F. Alphonso, Nelson Jeffery, Nathan Jarvis, Jonathan C. Research Article The general anatomy of the cardiac conduction system (CCS) has been known for 100 years, but its complex and irregular three-dimensional (3D) geometry is not so well understood. This is largely because the conducting tissue is not distinct from the surrounding tissue by dissection. The best descriptions of its anatomy come from studies based on serial sectioning of samples taken from the appropriate areas of the heart. Low X-ray attenuation has formerly ruled out micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) as a modality to resolve internal structures of soft tissue, but incorporation of iodine, which has a high molecular weight, into those tissues enhances the differential attenuation of X-rays and allows visualisation of fine detail in embryos and skeletal muscle. Here, with the use of a iodine based contrast agent (I2KI), we present contrast enhanced micro-CT images of cardiac tissue from rat and rabbit in which the three major subdivisions of the CCS can be differentiated from the surrounding contractile myocardium and visualised in 3D. Structures identified include the sinoatrial node (SAN) and the atrioventricular conduction axis: the penetrating bundle, His bundle, the bundle branches and the Purkinje network. Although the current findings are consistent with existing anatomical representations, the representations shown here offer superior resolution and are the first 3D representations of the CCS within a single intact mammalian heart. Public Library of Science 2012-04-11 /pmc/articles/PMC3324466/ /pubmed/22509404 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035299 Text en Stephenson et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited. |
| repository_type |
Open Access Journal |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
US National Center for Biotechnology Information |
| building |
NCBI PubMed |
| collection |
Online Access |
| language |
English |
| format |
Online |
| author |
Stephenson, Robert S. Boyett, Mark R. Hart, George Nikolaidou, Theodora Cai, Xue Corno, Antonio F. Alphonso, Nelson Jeffery, Nathan Jarvis, Jonathan C. |
| spellingShingle |
Stephenson, Robert S. Boyett, Mark R. Hart, George Nikolaidou, Theodora Cai, Xue Corno, Antonio F. Alphonso, Nelson Jeffery, Nathan Jarvis, Jonathan C. Contrast Enhanced Micro-Computed Tomography Resolves the 3-Dimensional Morphology of the Cardiac Conduction System in Mammalian Hearts |
| author_facet |
Stephenson, Robert S. Boyett, Mark R. Hart, George Nikolaidou, Theodora Cai, Xue Corno, Antonio F. Alphonso, Nelson Jeffery, Nathan Jarvis, Jonathan C. |
| author_sort |
Stephenson, Robert S. |
| title |
Contrast Enhanced Micro-Computed Tomography Resolves the 3-Dimensional Morphology of the Cardiac Conduction System in Mammalian Hearts |
| title_short |
Contrast Enhanced Micro-Computed Tomography Resolves the 3-Dimensional Morphology of the Cardiac Conduction System in Mammalian Hearts |
| title_full |
Contrast Enhanced Micro-Computed Tomography Resolves the 3-Dimensional Morphology of the Cardiac Conduction System in Mammalian Hearts |
| title_fullStr |
Contrast Enhanced Micro-Computed Tomography Resolves the 3-Dimensional Morphology of the Cardiac Conduction System in Mammalian Hearts |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Contrast Enhanced Micro-Computed Tomography Resolves the 3-Dimensional Morphology of the Cardiac Conduction System in Mammalian Hearts |
| title_sort |
contrast enhanced micro-computed tomography resolves the 3-dimensional morphology of the cardiac conduction system in mammalian hearts |
| description |
The general anatomy of the cardiac conduction system (CCS) has been known for 100 years, but its complex and irregular three-dimensional (3D) geometry is not so well understood. This is largely because the conducting tissue is not distinct from the surrounding tissue by dissection. The best descriptions of its anatomy come from studies based on serial sectioning of samples taken from the appropriate areas of the heart. Low X-ray attenuation has formerly ruled out micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) as a modality to resolve internal structures of soft tissue, but incorporation of iodine, which has a high molecular weight, into those tissues enhances the differential attenuation of X-rays and allows visualisation of fine detail in embryos and skeletal muscle. Here, with the use of a iodine based contrast agent (I2KI), we present contrast enhanced micro-CT images of cardiac tissue from rat and rabbit in which the three major subdivisions of the CCS can be differentiated from the surrounding contractile myocardium and visualised in 3D. Structures identified include the sinoatrial node (SAN) and the atrioventricular conduction axis: the penetrating bundle, His bundle, the bundle branches and the Purkinje network. Although the current findings are consistent with existing anatomical representations, the representations shown here offer superior resolution and are the first 3D representations of the CCS within a single intact mammalian heart. |
| publisher |
Public Library of Science |
| publishDate |
2012 |
| url |
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3324466/ |
| _version_ |
1611520450250145792 |