Work

Dispersion of Ventricular Activation and Refractoriness in Patients With Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Year: 1997

Type: article

Abstract: Sudden death, primarily from ventricular arrhythmias, accounts for up to 50% of deaths among patients with congestive heart failure.[1]The pathophysiologic basis for this high prevalence of sudden death remains poorly understood. Recently, prolongation of the action potential duration has been reported in myocardial cells and tissue isolated from failing animal and human hearts.[2, 3]Inhomogeneous prolongation of the action potential can predispose to increased dispersion of ventricular recovery, which may provide a substrate for ventricular arrhythmias.[4, 5]Abnormalities of cardiac conduction may exagerate the dispersion of recovery and contribute to vulnerability to arrhythmias.[6]We hypothesized that the electrophysiologic substrate in patients with an idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) is characterized by increased conduction times and refractoriness, resulting in prolonged total recovery times (TRT). The purpose of our study was to test this hypothesis by comparing the rates and spatial dispersion of ventricular activation and refractoriness in IDC patients and controls.

Source: The American Journal of Cardiology

DOI: 10.1016/s0002-9149(97)00024-6

Authors: Jay L Dinerman, Ronald Berger, Mark C.P Haigney, John H Lawrence, Gordon F Tomaselli, Hugh Calkins

Institutions: Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Hospital

Language: English

Topic: Cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmias

Subfield: Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,380