Definition The heart muscle (myocardium) is a special type of muscle that is only found in the heart and forms most of the wall of the heart. Through its regular contractions, it is responsible for the blood being squeezed out of the heart (the heart’s task) and pumped through our body, making it vital. Structure … Myocardium
Excitation conduction and contraction The electrical excitation of the heart muscle is effected by a cardiac conduction system, which, as with smooth muscles, is based on the presence of spontaneously discharging (depolarizing) pacemaker cells. The first instance of this system is the so-called sinus node, the primary pacemaker. Here, the heart rate is set at … Excitation conduction and contraction | Myocardium
Properties of the heart muscle With humans a heart muscle cell is on the average about 50 to 100 μm long and 10 to 25 μm broad. The left ventricle is the chamber from which blood is ejected into the body’s circulation.This must therefore provide a much higher pumping capacity than the right ventricle, which … Properties of the heart muscle | Myocardium
Heart muscle thickened If the heart muscles thicken, this is often a consequence of chronic overloading of the heart.If one speaks of the fact that the heart muscle is thickened (hypertrophy), the left ventricle is usually meant. This is usually between 6 and 12 millimeters thick. Due to chronic overloading in cases of high blood … Heart muscle thickened | Myocardium
