The study provides a computational criterion for understanding how defective regions in the myocardium can trap drifting spiral waves associated with dangerous cardiac arrhythmias.
Simulation criterion for spiral trapping by myocardial defects; hypothesis-generating for arrhythmia mechanisms, requires in vivo validation.
Spiral waves, a type of ``reentrant excitation,'' are believed to be associated with the most dangerous cardiac arrhythmias, including ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation. Recent experimental findings have implicated defective regions as a means of trapping spirals which would otherwise drift and (eventually) disappear. Here, we model the myocardium as a simple excitable medium and study via simulation the interaction between a drifting spiral and one or more such defects. We interpret our results in terms of a criterion for the transition between trapped and untrapped drifting spirals.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Zou et al. (1993) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: