Purkinje fibers

Common card · No. 365515

The Purkinje fibers (English: pur-KIN-jee; Czech: [ˈpurkɪɲɛ] ), also known as Purkinje tissue or subendocardial branches, are located in the inner ventricular walls of the heart, just beneath the endocardium in a space called the subendocardium. The Purkinje fibers are specialized conducting fibers composed of electrically excitable muscle cells. They are larger than cardiomyocytes, with fewer myofibrils and many mitochondria. Purkinje fibers conduct cardiac action potentials more quickly and efficiently than any of the other cells in the heart's electrical conduction system. Purkinje fibers allow the heart's conduction system to create synchronized contractions of its ventricles; they are essential for maintaining healthy and consistent heart rhythm. Purkinje fibers are named after the Czech scientist Jan Evangelista Purkyně, who discovered them in 1839.

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