Applications of nonlinear dynamics to clinical cardiology

(1) Nonlinear mechanisms may apply both to the understanding of SA-AV node interactions and to bifurcations leading to certain types of AV block. (2) The fractal His-Purkinje system serves as the structural substrate for the generation of the broadband, inverse power-law spectrum of the stable ventricular depolarization (QRS) waveform. (3) Fractal anatomy is also seen in multiple other systems: pulmonary, hepatobiliary, renal, etc. Fractal morphogenesis may reflect a type of critical phenomenon that results in the generation of these irregular, but self-similar structures. (4) Self-similar (fractal) scaling may underlie the 1/f-like spectra seen in multiple systems (e.g., interbeat interval variability, daily neutrophil fluctuations). This fractal scaling may provide a mechanism for the "constrained randomness" that appears to underlie physiological variability and adaptability. (5) Behavior consistent with subharmonic bifurcations is seen in cardiac electrophysiology (e.g., sick sinus syndrome) and hemodynamic perturbations (e.g., swinging heart phenomenon in pericardial tamponade). (6) Ventricular tachyarrhythmias associated with sudden cardiac death (e.g., torsades de pointes, ventricular fibrillation) appear to reflect relatively periodic, not chaotic (turbulent) processes resulting from disruption of the physiologic fractal depolarization sequence. (7) Spectral analysis of Holter monitor data may help in the detection of patients at high risk for sudden death.