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Short communication| Volume 91, ISSUE 12, P1482-1485, June 15, 2003

Anatomic description of Bachmann’s Bundle and its relation to the atrial septum

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-9149(03)00405-3
Anatomic description of Bachmann’s Bundle and its relation to the atrial septum
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      Jean George Bachmann, in 1916, reported in The American Journal of Physiology on the auricular time intervals in 12 dog experiments.
      • Bachmann J.G.
      The interauricular time interval.
      Am J Physiol. 1916; 41: 309-320
      Bachmann hypothesized that in view of the solidarity of the auricles, a special structure may exist whose special function would be that of interauricular conduction. He described a band of muscle tissue stretching from the right auricle to the base of the left atrial appendage, acknowledging that Lewis et al
      • Lewis T.
      • Meakins J.
      • White P.D.
      The excitatory process in the dog’s heart. Part I. The auricles.
      Phil Trans Roy Soc Lond. 1914; 205: 375-426
      had made similar observations 2 years earlier, describing it as the interauricular band. With time, this band of tissue became known as Bachmann’s bundle (BB). There are relatively few specific anatomic studies of BB.
      • Papez J.W.
      Heart musculature of the atria.
      Am J Anat. 1920; 27: 255-277
      ,
      • James T.N.
      The connecting pathways between the sinus node and A-V node and between the right and the left atrium in the human heart.
      Am Heart J. 1963; 66: 498-508
      ,
      • Ho S.Y.
      • Sanchez-Quintana D.
      • Cabrera J.A.
      • Anderson R.H.
      Anatomy of the left atrium implications for radiofrequency ablation of atrial fibrillation.
      J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 1999; 10: 1525-1533
      ,
      • Wang K.
      • Ho S.Y.
      • Gibson D.G.
      • Anderson R.H.
      Architecture of atrial musculature in humans.
      Br Heart J. 1995; 73: 559-565
      ,
      • Ho S.Y.
      • Sanchez-Quintana D.
      Structure of the left atrium.
      Eur Heart J. 2000; 2: 4-8
      Recently, high-resolution optical mapping in sheep
      • Mansour M.
      • Mandapati R.
      • Berenfeld O.
      • Chen J.
      • Samie F.H.
      • Jalife J.
      Left-to-right gradient of atrial frequencies during acute atrial fibrillation in the isolated sheep heart.
      Circulation. 2001; 103: 2631-2636
      and endocardial–epicardial mapping in dogs
      • Derakhchan K.
      • Li D.
      • Courtemanche M.
      • Smith B.
      • Brouillette J.
      • Pagé P.L.
      • Nattel S.
      Method for simultaneous epicardial and endocardial mapping of in vivo canine heart application to atrial conduction properties and arrhythmia mechanisms.
      J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2001; 12: 548-555
      further supported previous work
      • Allessie M.A.
      • Lammers W.J.E.P.
      • Bonke F.I.M.
      • Hollen J.
      Experimental evaluation of Moe’s multiple wavelet hypothesis of atrial fibrillation.
      in: Zipes D.P. Jalife J. Cardiac Electrophysiology and Arrhythmias. Grune & Stratton, New York1985: 265-275
      ,
      • Schuessler R.B.
      • Boineau J.P.
      • Bromberg B.I.
      • Hand D.E.
      • Yamauchi S.
      • Cox J.L.
      Normal and abnormal activation of the atrium.
      in: Zipes D.P. Jalife J. Cardiac Electrophysiology: From Cell to Bedside. 2nd ed. W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia1995: 543-562
      on the importance of BB in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation. Clinical electrophysiologic reports using nonfluoroscopic mapping have demonstrated that BB provides the most important interatrial conduction pathway and may play a role in sustaining atrial fibrillation.
      • Roithinger F.X.
      • Cheng J.
      • SippensGroenewegen A.
      • Lee R.J.
      • Saxon L.A.
      • Scheinman M.M.
      • Lesh M.D.
      Use of electroanatomic mapping to delineate transseptal atrial conduction in humans.
      Circulation. 1999; 100: 1791-1797
      ,
      • Schilling R.J.
      • Kadish A.H.
      • Peters N.S.
      • Goldberger J.
      • Davies W.
      Endocardial mapping of atrial fibrillation in the human right atrium using a noncontact catheter.
      Eur Heart J. 2000; 21: 550-564
      In view of the renewed interest and potential importance for interventions, we performed a detailed anatomic investigation of BB in human heart specimens.
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      References

        • Bachmann J.G.
        The interauricular time interval.
        Am J Physiol. 1916; 41: 309-320
        View in Article
        • Lewis T.
        • Meakins J.
        • White P.D.
        The excitatory process in the dog’s heart. Part I. The auricles.
        Phil Trans Roy Soc Lond. 1914; 205: 375-426
        View in Article
        • Papez J.W.
        Heart musculature of the atria.
        Am J Anat. 1920; 27: 255-277
        View in Article
        • James T.N.
        The connecting pathways between the sinus node and A-V node and between the right and the left atrium in the human heart.
        Am Heart J. 1963; 66: 498-508
        View in Article
        • Ho S.Y.
        • Sanchez-Quintana D.
        • Cabrera J.A.
        • Anderson R.H.
        Anatomy of the left atrium.
        J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 1999; 10: 1525-1533
        View in Article
        • Wang K.
        • Ho S.Y.
        • Gibson D.G.
        • Anderson R.H.
        Architecture of atrial musculature in humans.
        Br Heart J. 1995; 73: 559-565
        View in Article
        • Ho S.Y.
        • Sanchez-Quintana D.
        Structure of the left atrium.
        Eur Heart J. 2000; 2: 4-8
        View in Article
        • Mansour M.
        • Mandapati R.
        • Berenfeld O.
        • Chen J.
        • Samie F.H.
        • Jalife J.
        Left-to-right gradient of atrial frequencies during acute atrial fibrillation in the isolated sheep heart.
        Circulation. 2001; 103: 2631-2636
        View in Article
        • Derakhchan K.
        • Li D.
        • Courtemanche M.
        • Smith B.
        • Brouillette J.
        • Pagé P.L.
        • Nattel S.
        Method for simultaneous epicardial and endocardial mapping of in vivo canine heart.
        J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2001; 12: 548-555
        View in Article
        • Allessie M.A.
        • Lammers W.J.E.P.
        • Bonke F.I.M.
        • Hollen J.
        Experimental evaluation of Moe’s multiple wavelet hypothesis of atrial fibrillation.
        in: Zipes D.P. Jalife J. Cardiac Electrophysiology and Arrhythmias. Grune & Stratton, New York1985: 265-275
        View in Article
        • Schuessler R.B.
        • Boineau J.P.
        • Bromberg B.I.
        • Hand D.E.
        • Yamauchi S.
        • Cox J.L.
        Normal and abnormal activation of the atrium.
        in: Zipes D.P. Jalife J. Cardiac Electrophysiology: From Cell to Bedside. 2nd ed. W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia1995: 543-562
        View in Article
        • Roithinger F.X.
        • Cheng J.
        • SippensGroenewegen A.
        • Lee R.J.
        • Saxon L.A.
        • Scheinman M.M.
        • Lesh M.D.
        Use of electroanatomic mapping to delineate transseptal atrial conduction in humans.
        Circulation. 1999; 100: 1791-1797
        View in Article
        • Schilling R.J.
        • Kadish A.H.
        • Peters N.S.
        • Goldberger J.
        • Davies W.
        Endocardial mapping of atrial fibrillation in the human right atrium using a noncontact catheter.
        Eur Heart J. 2000; 21: 550-564
        View in Article
        • Durrer D.
        • van Dam R.T.
        • Freud G.E.
        • Janse M.J.
        • Meijler F.L.
        • Arzbaecher R.C.
        Total excitation of the isolated human heart.
        Circulation. 1970; 41: 899-911
        View in Article

      Article Info

      Publication History

      Accepted: February 28, 2003
      Received in revised form: February 28, 2003
      Received: December 2, 2002

      Identification

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-9149(03)00405-3

      Copyright

      © 2003 Excerpta Medica Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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