Key result
Patchy fibrosis promotes AF by reducing electrotonic load to enable focal excitations.
Why the study?
While fibrosis is known to promote wavebreak and pin re-entrant rotors, few studies have investigated in detail the role of fibrosis in generating atrial fibrillation triggers.
Computational modeling demonstrates that patchy fibrosis promotes atrial fibrillation by reducing electrotonic load, facilitating both the generation of focal triggers and the substrate for re-entry.
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Does not alter AF management; leaves open whether fibrosis-targeted mechanisms warrant human investigation.
Colman et al. (2023) studied Atrial fibrillation. Patchy fibrosis (computational model) vs. Control (no fibrosis) was evaluated on Probability of focal excitation. Patchy fibrosis promoted the emergence of focal excitations by reducing electrotonic load on individual fibre strands, enabling trigger-substrate interactions that generate and maintain atrial fibrillation.
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