Chapter: Surgical Pathology Dissection : The Cardiovascular, Respiratory System
Conduction System Heart: Surgical Pathology Dissection
The Conduction System
Histologic
examination of the conduction system is difficult and time-consuming, and it is
usually fruitless unless the patient has a clinical history of a complete heart
block. Nonetheless, in some in-stances examination of the conduction system can
provide critical insight into the underlying nature of the patient’s pathology.
In
general, the sinoatrial node is not present in the explanted heart. Examination
of the atrio-ventricular (AV) node was well described by Hutchins:3 From
the right side of the heart, iden-tify the ostium of the coronary sinus, the
septal leaflet of the tricuspid valve, the membranous interventricular septum,
and a line approxi-mately 2 cm below the insertion of the septal leaflet of the
tricuspid valve. Remove the block of tissue contained within these landmarks by
cutting into the septum from the right side. This block of tissue can then be
serially sectioned for histologic examination.
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