The atrioventricular node or AV node electrically connects the

heart The heart is a muscular organ found in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon diox ...

's atria and ventricles to coordinate beating in the top of the heart; it is part of the

electrical conduction system of the heart The cardiac conduction system (CCS) (also called the electrical conduction system of the heart) transmits the signals generated by the sinoatrial node – the heart's pacemaker, to cause the heart muscle to contract, and pump blood through the ...

. The AV node lies at the lower back section of the

interatrial septum The interatrial septum is the wall of tissue that separates the right and left atria of the heart. Structure The interatrial septum is a that lies between the left atrium and right atrium of the human heart. The interatrial septum lies at ...

near the opening of the

coronary sinus In anatomy, the coronary sinus () is a collection of veins joined together to form a large vessel that collects blood from the heart muscle ( myocardium). It delivers deoxygenated blood to the right atrium, as do the superior and inferior ven ...

, and conducts the normal electrical impulse from the atria to the ventricles. The AV node is quite compact (~1 x 3 x 5 mm).Full Size Picture triangle of-Koch.jpg
Retrieved on 2008-12-22

Structure

Location

The AV node lies at the lower back section of the

near the opening of the

, which conducts the normal electrical impulse from the atria to the ventricles. The AV node is quite compact (~1 x 3 x 5 mm). It is located at the center of

Koch's triangle Koch's triangle, named after the German pathologist Walter Koch, is an anatomical area located in the superficial paraseptal endocardium of the right atrium, which its boundari