TY - JOUR T1 - Spatiotemporal irregularities of spiral wave activity in isolated ventricular muscle. JF - J Electrocardiol Y1 - 1992 A1 - Davidenko, J M A1 - Pertsov, A V A1 - Salomonsz, R A1 - Baxter, Bill A1 - Jalife, J KW - Animals KW - Cardiac Pacing, Artificial KW - Fluorescent Dyes KW - Heart Conduction System KW - Membrane Potentials KW - Optics and Photonics KW - Pericardium KW - Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted KW - Tachycardia KW - Ventricular Function AB -

Voltage-sensitive dyes and high resolution optical mapping were used to analyze the characteristics of spiral waves of excitation in isolated ventricular myocardium. In addition, analytical techniques, which have been previously used in the study of the characteristics of spiral waves in chemical reactions, were applied to determine the voltage structure of the center of the rotating activity (ie, the core). During stable spiral wave activity local activation occurs in a periodic fashion (ie, 1:1 stimulus: response activation ratio) throughout the preparation, except at the core, which is a small elongated area where the activity is of low voltage and the activation ratio is 1:0. The voltage amplitude increases gradually from the center of the core to the periphery. In some cases, however, regular activation patterns at the periphery may coexist with irregular local activation patterns near the core. Such a spatiotemporal irregularity is attended by variations in the core size and shape and results from changes in the core position. The authors conclude that functionally determined reentrant activity in the heart may be the result of spiral waves of propagation and that local spatiotemporal irregularities in the activation pattern are the result of changes in the core position.

VL - 24 Suppl UR - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1552240 ER -