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

Vulnerability to ventricular fibrillation.

Michiel J. Janse1

  • 1Department of Clinical and Experimental Cardiology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, 1105 Az Amsterdam ZO, The Netherlands.

Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.)
|June 5, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Increased refractoriness dispersion, influenced by sympathetic activity and ischemia, promotes ventricular fibrillation. The Purkinje system and myocardial mass are critical factors in fibrillation development and maintenance.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same journal

Stochastic Poincaré maps for a slow-fast system with white noises: Approximation and visualization.

Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.)·2026
Same journal

On a stable torus in a 3D system with a saddle-focus.

Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.)·2026
Same journal

Targeted interventions suppress epidemic outbreaks in spatial higher-order activity-driven networks.

Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.)·2026
Same journal

Erratum: "Hierarchical organization of bursty trains in event sequences" [Chaos 35, 113115 (2025)].

Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.)·2026
Same journal

Deterministic control of CW/CCW alternation by dual-frequency injection in a heterogeneous oscillator ring.

Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.)·2026
Same journal

A CTRW-driven subdiffusive fractional Brownian bridge in the reconstruction of missing experimental data.

Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.)·2026

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Electrophysiology
  • Cardiac Arrhythmias

Background:

  • Ventricular fibrillation (VF) risk increases with dispersion of refractoriness.
  • Enhanced sympathetic nerve activity and regional ischemia elevate this dispersion.
  • The subendocardial Purkinje system plays a role in VF transition during ischemia.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between refractoriness dispersion and VF.
  • To determine the role of the Purkinje system in VF.
  • To establish the minimal myocardial mass required to sustain VF.

Main Methods:

  • Inducing VF with electrical stimuli in the presence of enhanced sympathetic activity and regional ischemia.
  • Selective destruction of the Purkinje network using lugol.
  • Freezing myocardial layers to determine the minimal mass for sustained VF.

Main Results:

  • Increased refractoriness dispersion was observed during enhanced sympathetic activity.
  • Moderate stimuli induced VF only with regional ischemia.
  • Purkinje network destruction prevented VF transition from tachycardia.
  • A minimum of 20g of surviving epicardial muscle was required for sustained VF.
  • Activation patterns differed between intact and frozen ventricles, suggesting different reentry mechanisms.

Conclusions:

  • Refractoriness dispersion is a key factor in VF development.
  • The Purkinje system is crucial for VF transition during ischemia.
  • Myocardial mass and activation patterns influence the type of reentry sustaining VF.

Related Experiment Videos