Conduction,excitability and rhythm-forming power of the atrio-ventricular connection in the turtle

Abstract

As in the heart of the turtle Clemmys lutaria and of the lizards Lacerta viridis and agilis (Laurens 1 ) the right and left parts of the atrioventricular funnel of Malacoclemmys geographica are the portions which are most efficient in conducting the contracting impulse from the auricles to the ventricle. When the auricles are partially separated from the ventricle by a series of cuts leaving only a narrow connection, and in consequence of which atrio-ventricular block (complete or incomplete) has been brought about, it is these parts which are later most capable of conducting the impulse from the auricles to the ventricle so that the contractions of the latter follow those of the auricle coördinatedly, or so that the incomplete block is decreased.

Stimulating the funnel of beating (in situ and excised) and still hearts (first Stannius ligature) with single shocks (quick make and break) and with interrupted currents of short duration have shown (1) that the funnel is more easily excited than the base of the ventricle, (2) that the right and left parts of the funnel are more easily excited than other parts (dorsal and ventral) and (3) that the excitability of the funnel increases as one approaches the auricle.

The stimulation of the funnel just below the level of the A-V boundary of beating hearts with interrupted currents, even when these are strong and of long duration, can only occasionally produce a “fibrillation” of the ventricle or a V-A rhythm (funnel rhythm) which lasts over after the stimulation is discontinued. This is possible, however, and curves have been obtained from excised hearts showing a duration for several seconds of a funnel rhythm following a ventricular “fibrillation.” In the still heart the setting up of a funnel rhythm is more easily and frequently accomplished, and several cases have been registered showing a funnel rhythm lasting for several minutes.