HisBündel

HisBündel, also known as the bundle of His or the atrioventricular bundle, is a key component of the heart’s conduction system. It transmits electrical impulses from the atrioventricular (AV) node to the ventricles, enabling synchronized ventricular contraction. The term is commonly used in German-language medical writing as HisBündel and reflects the historical naming of the structure after Wilhelm His, a 19th-century anatomist who described the conducting pathway.

Anatomically, the bundle of His originates at the AV node, located in the right atrium near the triangle of Koch. It then traverses the fibrous skeleton of the heart and enters the membranous portion of the interventricular septum. In this region it splits into the right and left bundle branches, which run along the septum and distribute the impulse to the right and left ventricles. The left bundle typically divides further into anterior and posterior fascicles, while Purkinje fibers extend the signal into the ventricular myocardium to coordinate contraction.

Functionally, the His bundle provides the rapid, coordinated transmission of impulses from the AV node to the ventricles, contributing to the timing of ventricular systole. This pathway helps maintain a normal heart rhythm and efficient cardiac output, especially when impulses are processed by the AV node.

Clinical relevance includes its role in conduction abnormalities such as bundle branch blocks and AV block. Electrophysiological procedures may target the His bundle for pacing (his-bundle pacing) to achieve more physiologic ventricular activation, or to map and treat conduction disturbances. Variations in the anatomic course of the bundle of His are noted in anatomical and clinical texts.