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Electrical System of the Heart

Heart muscle cells generate electrical signals that are conducted through the heart by special fibers which stimulate the muscle of the heart to contract. The flow of electrical signals that starts the normal heartbeat begins in the sinus node and causes the atria, or upper chambers of the heart, to contract. The signal then travels through the atrioventricular, or AV node, bundle of His, bundle branches, and Purkinje fibers to stimulate the ventricles, or lower chambers of the heart, to contract and pump the blood out of the heart.

 

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