Bundle of Kent



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, and results in a condition known as 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 that bypasses the AV node. This AV node has rate-slowing electrical (regulation) properties, whereas the pathway via the Bundle of Kent does not. When an aberrant electrical connection is made via this bundle, tachyarrhythmia occurs.

In order to treat persons with WPW, destruction of the Bundle of Kent is accomplished by radiofrequency catheter ablation. This procedure is performed almost exclusively by cardiac electrophysiologists.