atrioventricular node

noun

, Anatomy.

a small mass of muscular fibers at the base of the wall between the atria, conducting impulses received from the sinoatrial node by way of the atrioventricular bundles and, under certain conditions, functioning for the sinoatrial node as pacemaker of the heart.

/ ā′trē-ō-vĕn-trĭk′yə-lər /

A small area of specialized cardiac muscle cells that conducts impulses from the sinoatrial node to the ventricles and initiates the contraction of the ventricles. It is located in the right atrium.

First recorded in 1930–35

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