Bundle of Kent
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Bundle of Kent is an extra or accessory conduction pathway between the atria and ventricles in the heart. It is an abnormal pathway that is present in a small percentage of the general population which is referred to as the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW). This pathway is a bundle of connecting tissue that may be either between the right atrium and the right ventricle or left atrium and the left ventricle. Problems arise when this pathway creates an electrical circuit bypassing the normal atrium-ventricle (AV node). This AV node has rate-slowing electrical (regulation) properties, whereas the pathway via the Bundle of Kent does not. When an improper electrical connection is made via this bundle, ventricular fibrillation takes place.
In order to treat persons with WFW, destruction of the Bundle of Kent is accomplished by radiofrequency catheter ablation. This procedure is performed almost exclusively by cardiac electrophysiologists.
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