The Myocardial Sleeve Over the Pulmonary Vein: How It Relates to Cardiac Arrhythmias



Dabaghi GG^{1, 2} ; Rad MR^{1, 2} ; Aghadavood F¹
Source: Horizons in World Cardiovascular Research Published:2022

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most frequent cardiac rhythm disorder in hospital and general practice contributing to cardiac mortality and morbidity. A great deal of evidence has mentioned that myocardial sleeves, muscular extensions in the main cardiac veins which are composed of longitudinally and circulatory cardiomyocytes bundles, trigger various types of ectopic beats which induce arrhythmogenic activity embroiled in the initiation of AF. This chapter starts with a closer look at the morphology and development of myocardial sleeves of pulmonary veins. The middle part discusses the arrhythmogenic properties of the myocardial sleeve cells, including insights on signaling pathways underlying the ectopic electrical activity and effects of neurotransmitters on these cells garnered from animal models and human autopsy studies. An overview on the role of other ectopic focals for AF initiation builds the last part of this chapter. © 2023 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.