Virtual electrode polarization leads to reentry in the far field

Our previous article examined cardiac vulnerability to reentry in the near field within the framework of the virtual electrode polarization (VEP) concept. The present study extends this examination to the far field and compares its predictions to the critical point hypothesis.

We simulate the electrical behavior of a sheet of myocardium using a two-dimensional bidomain model. The fiber field is extrapolated from a set of rabbit heart fiber directions obtained experimentally. An S1 stimulus is applied along the top or left border. An extracellular line electrode on the top delivers a cathodal or anodal S2 stimulus. A VEP pattern matching that seen experimentally is observed and covers the entire sheet, thus constituting a far-field effect. Reentry arises from break excitation, make excitation, or a combination of both, and subsequent propagation through deexcited and recovered areas. Reentry occurs in cross-field, parallel-field, and uniform refractoriness protocols. For long coupling intervals (CIs) above CImake(min) (defined as the shortest CI at which make excitation can take place), rotors move away from the cathodal electrode and the S1 site for increases in S2 strength and CI, respectively. For cathodal S2 stimuli, findings are consistent with the critical point hypothesis. For CIs below CImake(min), reentry is initiated by break excitation only, and the resulting reentrant patterns are no longer consistent with those predicted by the critical point hypothesis.

Shock-induced VEP can explain vulnerability in the far field. The VEP theory of vulnerability encompasses the critical point hypothesis for cathodal S2 shocks at long CIs.