Key result
The spatial length of the upstroke of action potentials during early ventricular fibrillation is approximately 1.0 mm, similar to normal cardiac conduction.
The electromotive surface dimension during early ventricular fibrillation is approximately 1.0 mm, suggesting that optimal interelectrode distances for bipolar recording are similar to those used in normal conduction.
Electrode spacing validated in normal rhythm may apply to early VF recordings; leaves open translation to clinical mapping.
The accurate identification of local activation from extracellular recording electrodes attached to the beating heart is critical for the development of a mechanistic understanding of serious cardiac rhythm disturbances in both experimental animals and man. One of the most complex of these rhythm disturbances is ventricular fibrillation, a common cause of sudden cardiac death in man. When using bipolar extracellular recording electrodes to detect local activation, the spatial extent of the upstroke of the action potentials that generate the extracellular waveform determines the optimal interelectrode distances for the bipolar electrodes. This spatial length has been well characterized for normal cardiac conduction at around 1.0 mm on the epicardial surface. We found that for many of the activations occurring during early ventricular fibrillation this length is similarly around 1.0 mm.
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Witkowski et al. (1992) studied Ventricular fibrillation. Measurement of electromotive surface dimension vs. Normal cardiac conduction was evaluated on Spatial length of the upstroke of action potentials. The spatial length of the upstroke of action potentials during early ventricular fibrillation is approximately 1.0 mm, similar to normal cardiac conduction.
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