Living anatomy of the atrioventricular junctions. A guide to electrophysiologic mapping - A consensus statement from the Cardiac Nomenclature Study Group, Working Group of Arrhythmias, European Society of Cardiology, and theTask Force on Cardiac Nomenclature from NASPE

Current nomenclature for the atrioventricular (AV) junctions derives from a surgically distorted view, placing the valvar rings and the triangle of Ko ch in a single plane with antero-posterior and right-left lateral coordinat es. Within this convention, the aorta is considered to occupy an anterior p osition, although the mouth of the coronary sinus is shown as being posteri or. Although this nomenclature has served its purpose for the description a nd treatment of arrhythmias dependent on accessory pathways and atrioventri cular nodal reentry, it is less than satisfactory for the description of at rial and ventricular mapping. To correct these deficiencies, a consensus do cument has been prepared by experts from the Working Group of Arrhythmias o f the European Society of Cardiology and the North American Society of Paci ng and Electrophysiology. It proposes a new anatomically sound nomenclature that will be applicable to all chambers of the heart. In this report, we d iscuss its value: for description of the AV junctions, establishing the pri nciples of this new nomenclature.