The importance of atrial structure and fibers

Atrial structures are important in the current era of cardiac interventions using percutaneous transcatheter procedures. Understanding their locations and component parts helps to reduce risks of procedural‐related damage. The general arrangement of the myofibers that make up the atrial walls is reviewed to provide a morphologic basis for atrial conduction and potential substrates of arrhythmias. The right atrium, dominated by its appendage, is characterized by having an extensive array of pectinate muscles. These extend almost perpendicularly from the terminal crest. The left atrium has relatively smooth walls and a small tubular‐shaped appendage. The myofibers show changes in orientations when traced through the thickness of the walls. Extensions of atrial myocardium onto the pulmonary veins and the superior caval vein are common. Apart from Bachmann's bundle, there are other muscular bridges of variable numbers and sizes that provide interatrial connections, connections between the left atrium and the coronary sinus, and connections between the muscular sleeves of the right pulmonary veins and the right atrium. The purpose of this review is to summarize the three‐dimensional arrangement of gross atrial structures, the myoarchitecture and variations in muscular interatrial connections. These are important features in intra‐ and interatrial conduction. Clin. Anat. 22:52–63, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.