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(Circulation. 2001;104:3152.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.

Basic Science Reports

Heterogeneity of Myocardial Sleeve Morphology and Gap Junctions in Canine Superior Vena Cava

Hung-I Yeh, MD PhD;; Yu-Jun Lai, MS; Shih-Huang Lee, MD PhD;; Yi-Nan Lee, MS; Yu-Shien Ko, MD PhD;; Shih-Ann Chen, MD; Nicholas J. Severs, PhD DSc;; Cheng-Ho Tsai, MD

From the Departments of Internal Medicine and Medical Research, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei Medical University (H.-I.Y., Y.-J.L., Y.-N.L., C.-H.T.); Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital (S.-H.L.); the First Cardiovascular Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (Y.-S.K.); and Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Yang-Ming University (S.-A.C.), Taipei, Taiwan; and the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London, UK (N.J.S.).

Correspondence to Cheng-Ho Tsai, Cardiac Medicine, Mackay Memorial Hospital, 92, Sec 2, North Chung San Road, Taipei 10449, Taiwan. E-mail cht7678{at}ms2.mmh.org.tw

Background— The myocardial sleeve of the superior vena cava (SVC) has been identified as a potential initiating focus in atrial fibrillation, but information on cell-to-cell linkage at this site is lacking.

Methods and Results— We examined the SVC in 8 dogs by immunoconfocal and electron microscopy. Cardiomyocytes outlined with vinculin and bearing striations positive for -actinin are found in the proximal segment of the SVC. These cells, grouped in bundles of various orientations according to location, extend cephalically as far as 3 cm from the right atrium (RA)-SVC junction. Comparison between the junctional level and the level 2 cm distal shows that the myocardial layer in the latter is thinner and not as compact and is composed of longer cells (87.3±15.7 versus 71.6±14.4 µm, P<0.01). Gap junctions made of connexin43 (Cx43), Cx40, and Cx45 are aggregated mainly at the intercalated disks, and colocalization of connexins is a common feature throughout the myocardial sleeve. Areas of atypical expression exist, however, characterized by a center of abundant Cx43 labels surrounded by a periphery of scattered tiny Cx40-labeled spots. Although in the ventral subluminal compact myocardial layer, individual cells at both levels are surrounded by similar numbers of cells, the number of aggregation of labeled gap junctions at the distal level is less (2.3±0.6 versus 3.7±0.9, P<0.01). In addition, electron-microscopic examination demonstrates that the gap junctions at the distal level are smaller in size (0.37±0.30 versus 0.55±0.34 µm, P<0.01).

Conclusions— The myocardial sleeve in the canine SVC is a heterogeneous structure, which could potentially form a substrate for heterogeneity of electrical coupling.

Key Words: junctions • proteins • veins

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