File:Reizleitungssystem_1.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
sinoatrial node
Sign in to saveAlso known as SA node, sinus node, Keith-Flack node, Keith and Flack node, SAN
group of cells located in the wall of the right atrium of the heart
Key facts
- System
- Electrical conduction system of the heart
- Artery
- Sinoatrial nodal artery
- Latin
- nodus sinuatrialis
- Acronym
- SA node
- Mesh
- D012849
- Ta98
- A12.1.06.003
via Wikipedia infobox
Research
8,257 papers- Emerging Signaling Regulation of Sinoatrial Node Dysfunction.Current cardiology reports · 2023
- Genetics of sinoatrial node function and heart rate disorders.Disease models & mechanisms · 2023
- Beyond pacemaking: HCN channels in sinoatrial node function.Progress in biophysics and molecular biology · 2021
- Research Progress on Pathological Fibrosis of Sinoatrial Node.Fa yi xue za zhi · 2021
- The virtual sinoatrial node: What did computational models tell us about cardiac pacemaking?Progress in biophysics and molecular biology · 2023
via PubMed
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Reizleitungssystem 1.png
Show 1 more fact
- Commons category
- Sinoatrial node
via Wikidata · CC0
~15 min read
Article
The sinoatrial node (also known as the sinuatrial node, SA node, sinus node or Keith–Flack node) is an oval shaped region of special cardiac muscle in the upper back wall of the right atrium made up of cells known as pacemaker cells. The sinus node is approximately 15 mm long, 3 mm wide, and 1 mm thick, located directly below and to the side of the superior vena cava.
These cells produce an electrical impulse known as a cardiac action potential that travels through the electrical conduction system of the heart, causing it to contract. In a healthy heart, the SA node continuously produces action potentials, setting the rhythm of the heart (sinus rhythm), and so is known as the heart's natural pacemaker. The rate of action potentials produced (and therefore the heart rate) is influenced by the nerves that supply it.