The Conduction System of the Swine Heart

Although the pig has been used as an experimental model for ischemic heart disease and sudden death, relatively little is known about the anatomy of the conduction system (CS) of this animal. We attempted to correlate electrophysiologic and anatomic differences between the pig and human CS. Invasive electrophysiologic studies were performed in five healthy anesthetized pigs. In contrast to the adult human, the pig has sinus tachycardia, shortened PR and H-V intervals, and a relatively short sinoatrial conduction time. Compared with the human CS, serial sections of the CS of pig hearts showed the following differences: (1) the atrioventricular node is located more to the right of the summit of the ventricular septum; (2) the penetrating bundle is very short, and the bifurcation of the bundle into bundle branches occurs more proximally; (3) there is more connective tissue and less elastic tissue; and (4) there is a copious amount of nerve fibers (about 50 percent throughout the CS). The presence of the abundant neural tissue implies that there is an important neurogenic component to conduction in the pig. Because of the above differences from the human, the pig should be used with caution as an experimental model in ischemic heart disease and sudden death where arrhythmias are studied.