Cytology · MU Sofia

Slide 28. Cardiac striated muscle tissue and bundle of His heart, H&E

Explains how to recognise the heart's conducting system on an H&E slide, the bundle of His and Purkinje fibres, set against ordinary working cardiac muscle. Covers the pale, larger conducting cells with glycogen-rich cytoplasm, peripheral myofibrils and central nuclei, their location in the septum and under the endocardium, and how to tell them apart from fat cells or damaged muscle.

Inside: 1 section · 1 min

Topic 117 of 127 in the MU Sofia syllabus for Cytology (Dental Medicine, Year 1). The free AceMed note covers it in 1 section, about 119 words (1 min of reading).

In this note

  1. Introduction

Introduction

This slide shows the heart's conducting system, the bundle of His and Purkinje fibres, next to ordinary working cardiac muscle.

Stain

H&E: cytoplasm pink, nuclei blue-purple; conducting cells look pale.

How to recognise it

  • Conducting cells are larger and paler than working cardiomyocytes, because they hold much glycogen and few myofibrils.
  • Their myofibrils lie at the edge of the cell; one or two nuclei sit in the centre.
  • They run in bundles wrapped in connective tissue, in the interventricular septum and just under the endocardium.
  • Around them is ordinary, darker cardiac muscle with intercalated discs.

Don't confuse it with: fat cells or swollen, damaged muscle. Conducting fibres still have peripheral myofibrils and intercalated discs.

Theory: topic 60 (cardiac muscle).

Read the full note free

The whole note is free with an AceMed account. Premium adds flashcard recall, highlights and Ask AI.

Start freeAlready a member? Open the note