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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
Bundle branch block is a condition in which there's a delay or obstruction along the pathway that electrical impulses travel to make your heart beat. The blockage may occur on the pathway that sends electrical impulses to the left or the right side of your heart.
Bundle branch block can occur in people who appear healthy, but it may be a sign of another underlying heart problem. Bundle branch block sometimes makes it harder for your heart to pump blood forcefully and efficiently through your circulatory system.
Although bundle branch block itself often requires no direct treatment, you'll need treatment of any underlying health condition that could cause bundle branch block, such as heart disease.
- Bundle branch block. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/print_presenter.jhtml?identifier=990. Accessed Jan. 12, 2010.
- Bundle branch and fascicular block. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec07/ch075/ch075i.html. Accessed Jan. 10, 2010.
- Francia P, et al. Left bundle-branch block — Pathophysiology, prognosis and clinical management. Clinical Cardiology. 2007;30:110.
- ACC/AHA 2008 guidelines for device-based therapy of cardiac rhythm abnormalities: A report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines (Writing Committee to Revise the ACC/AHA/NASPE 2002 Guideline Update for Implantation of Cardiac Pacemakers and Antiarrhythmia Devices) developed in collaboration with the American Association for Thoracic Surgery and Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2008;51:e1.
- Goldberger AL, et al. Electrocardiography. In: Fauci AS, et al. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. 17th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Medical; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2871872. Accessed Jan. 10, 2010.
- Horton CL, et al. Right bundle-branch block in acute coronary syndrome: Diagnostic and therapeutic implications for the emergency physician. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2009;27:1130.
- Wong CK, et al. Prognostic differences between different types of bundle branch block during the early phase of acute myocardial infarction: Insights from the Hirulog and Early Reperfusion or Occlusion (HERO)-2 trial. European Heart Journal. 2006;27:21.
- ABC's of preventing heart disease, stroke and heart attack. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/print_presenter.jhtml?identifier=3035374. Accessed Jan. 12, 2010.
- Grogan M (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Jan. 25, 2010.
- Arnsdorf MF. Overview of left bundle branch block. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 13, 2010.
- Arnsdorf MF. Overview of right bundle branch block. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 13, 2010.
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