Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Spatial and temporal organization in ventricular fibrillation.

J Jalife1

  • 1Department of Pharmacology, SUNY Health Science Center 13210, USA.

Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine
|January 20, 2000
PubMed
Summary

Ventricular fibrillation (VF), a cause of sudden cardiac death, is not random but organized. New analysis reveals electrical wave organization around phase singularities in the heart.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Pulmonary vein triggers, focal sources, rotors and atrial cardiomyopathy: implications for the choice of the most effective ablation therapy.

Journal of internal medicine·2016
Same author

Minimum Information about a Cardiac Electrophysiology Experiment (MICEE): standardised reporting for model reproducibility, interoperability, and data sharing.

Progress in biophysics and molecular biology·2011
Same author

1/f Power spectral density of the cardiac QRS complex is not associated with a fractal Purkinje system.

Biophysical journal·2009
Same author

The short QT syndrome as a paradigm to understand the role of potassium channels in ventricular fibrillation.

Journal of internal medicine·2005
Same author

Spiral drift and core properties.

Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics·2002
Same author

Rectification of the background potassium current: a determinant of rotor dynamics in ventricular fibrillation.

Circulation research·2001

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Cardiac Electrophysiology
  • Computational Biology

Background:

  • Ventricular fibrillation (VF) is the primary cause of sudden cardiac death.
  • The precise mechanisms underlying VF have remained largely unknown.
  • VF is often characterized as disorganized cardiac electrical activity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the underlying mechanisms of ventricular fibrillation.
  • To determine if VF exhibits organizational properties.
  • To explore quantitative analysis of VF using novel algorithms.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a "two-dimensional phase mapping" algorithm.
  • Employed video imaging of voltage-sensitive dye fluorescence.
  • Recorded transmembrane potential from 20,000 sites on epicardial surfaces of rabbit and sheep ventricles.

Main Results:

  • VF demonstrated a significant periodic component (approx. 500 beats/min).
  • Phase mapping revealed VF organization around a limited number of short-lived "phase singularities."
  • Phase singularities arise from wavefront interactions with obstacles.

Conclusions:

  • Cardiac fibrillation exhibits substantial temporal and spatial organization.
  • VF is not a random process but a quantifiable phenomenon.
  • Findings may enhance understanding of VF mechanisms in healthy and diseased hearts.

Related Experiment Videos