Cardiac muscle (also called heart muscle or myocardium) is one of three types of vertebrate muscle tissues, with the other two being skeletal muscle and smooth muscle. It is an involuntary, striated muscle that constitutes the main tissue of the wall of the heart. The cardiac muscle (myocardium) forms a thick middle layer between the outer layer of the heart wall (the pericardium) and the inner layer (the endocardium), with blood supplied via the coronary circulation. It is composed of individual cardiac muscle cells joined by intercalated discs, and encased by collagen fibers and other substances that form the extracellular matrix.
Cardiac muscle contracts in a similar manner to skeletal muscle, although with some important differences. Electrical stimulation in the form of a cardiac action potential triggers the release of calcium from the cell's internal calcium store, the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The rise in calcium causes the cell's myofilaments to slide past each other in a process called excitation-contraction coupling.
Diseases of the heart muscle known as cardiomyopathies are of major importance. These include ischemic conditions caused by a restricted blood supply to the muscle such as angina, and myocardial infarction.
Cardiacmuscle (also called heart muscle or myocardium) is one of three types of vertebrate muscle tissues, with the other two being skeletal muscle and...
muscle (non-striated) muscle; and cardiacmuscle. Skeletal muscle tissue consists of elongated, multinucleate muscle cells called muscle fibers, and is responsible...
smooth, and cardiac (cardiomyocytes). A skeletal muscle cell is long and threadlike with many nuclei and is called a muscle fiber. Muscle cells develop...
new "Start" of the cardiac cycle. Throughout the cardiac cycle, blood pressure increases and decreases. The movements of cardiacmuscle are coordinated by...
skeletal muscle, the contractions of smooth and cardiacmuscles are myogenic (meaning that they are initiated by the smooth or heart muscle cells themselves...
Unlike the action potential in skeletal muscle cells, the cardiac action potential is not initiated by nervous activity. Instead, it arises from a group...
muscular system is an organ system consisting of skeletal, smooth, and cardiacmuscle. It permits movement of the body, maintains posture, and circulates...
T) that are integral to muscle contraction in skeletal muscle and cardiacmuscle, but not smooth muscle. Measurements of cardiac-specific troponins I and...
myocardium, which is the cardiacmuscle—a layer of involuntary striated muscle tissue surrounded by a framework of collagen. The cardiacmuscle pattern is elegant...
of cardiacmuscle (heart muscle) in all animals is initiated by electrical impulses known as action potentials that in the heart are known as cardiac action...
propagates through cardiacmuscle very rapidly. Cells of the ventricles contract nearly simultaneously. The action potentials of cardiacmuscle are unusually...
transporter found primarily in adipose tissues and striated muscle (skeletal and cardiac). The first evidence for this distinct glucose transport protein...
of skeletal muscle, cardiacmuscle, and smooth muscle such as their actions, structure, size, and location. There are three types of muscle tissue in the...
and others Helleborus spp. (hellebore) Cardiac glycosides affect the sodium-potassium ATPase pump in cardiacmuscle cells to alter their function. Normally...
occur at each ventricular systole. Cardiacmuscle tissue has autorhythmicity, the unique ability to initiate a cardiac action potential at a fixed rate...
syncytium of cardiacmuscle is important because it allows rapid coordinated contraction of muscles along their entire length. Cardiac action potentials...
Eberth are microscopic identifying features of cardiacmuscle. Cardiacmuscle consists of individual heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) connected by intercalated...
Troponin I is a cardiac and skeletal muscle protein family. It is a part of the troponin protein complex, where it binds to actin in thin myofilaments...
Cardiac fibrosis commonly refers to the excess deposition of extracellular matrix in the cardiacmuscle, but the term may also refer to an abnormal thickening...
released directly by nerves that stimulate cardiacmuscle cells, have a toxic effect and can lead to decreased cardiac muscular function or "stunning". Further...
Myocardial contractility represents the innate ability of the heart muscle (cardiacmuscle or myocardium) to contract. It is the maximum attainable value for...
coordinated response even in multiunit smooth muscle. Smooth muscle differs from skeletal muscle and cardiacmuscle in terms of structure, function, regulation...
throughout muscle cells, wrapping around (but not in direct contact with) the myofibrils (contractile units of the cell). Cardiac and skeletal muscle cells...
moderator band (also known as septomarginal trabecula) is a band of cardiacmuscle found in the right ventricle of the heart. It is well-marked in sheep...
increasing renal sodium excretion. ANP is synthesized and secreted by cardiacmuscle cells in the walls of the atria in the heart. These cells contain volume...
A sinus rhythm is any cardiac rhythm in which depolarisation of the cardiacmuscle begins at the sinus node. It is necessary, but not sufficient, for normal...
veins that supply the heart muscle (myocardium). Coronary arteries supply oxygenated blood to the heart muscle. Cardiac veins then drain away the blood...