The Afferent Innervation of the Heart.

Abstract

The detailed personal observations of the author coupled with a comprehensive review of the major studies in the world literature along these lines place this particular compilation in the category of an authoritative treatise on the subject of afferent innervation of the heart. The histological material dealing with afferent receptor fields and individual receptors is particularly outstanding, although some questions may still be raised as to whether all of the neural components comprising the receptor fields and specialized ending are strictly afferent in nature. In addition it would have been helpful to include illustrations of specific heart surface topography in the description of the distribution of afferent areas along the heart wall. The experimental work confirming the similarity between the afferent endings found in animal hearts and those existing in the human can be regarded as a significant contribution. The tie-up of these peripheral fields with the central nervous system