Overview
The conducting system of the heart consists of cardiac muscle cells and conducting fibers (not nervous tissue) that are specialized for initiating impulses and conducting them rapidly through the heart (see the image below). They initiate the normal cardiac cycle and coordinate the contractions of cardiac chambers. Both atria contract together, as do the ventricles, but atrial contraction occurs first.
The conducting system provides the heart its automatic rhythmic beat. For the heart to pump efficiently and the systemic and pulmonary circulations to operate in synchrony, the events in the cardiac cycle must be coordinated.
Schematic illustration of the cardiac conduction system.
See also Heart Anatomy, Aortic Valve Anatomy, Mitral Valve Anatomy, Pulmonic Valve Anatomy, Tricuspid Valve Anatomy, Anatomy of the Nerves of the Heart, and Anatomy of the Autonomic Nervous System.