HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Movie All Versions of this Article: 290/1/H255    most recent 00668.2005v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (3) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Qu, Z. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Qu, Z.

Critical mass hypothesis revisited: role of dynamical wave stability in spontaneous termination of cardiac fibrillation

Cardiovascular Research Laboratory and Department of Medicine (Cardiology), David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, California

Submitted 20 June 2005 ; accepted in final form 16 August 2005

The tendency of atrial or ventricular fibrillation to terminate spontaneously in finite-sized tissue is known as the critical mass hypothesis. Previous studies have shown that dynamical instabilities play an important role in creating new wave breaks that maintain cardiac fibrillation, but its role in self-termination, in relation to tissue size and geometry, is not well understood. This study used computer simulations of two- and three-dimensional tissue models to investigate qualitatively how, in relation to tissue size and geometry, dynamical instability affects the spontaneous termination of cardiac fibrillation. The major findings are as follows: 1) Dynamical instability promotes wave breaks, maintaining fibrillation, but it also causes the waves to extinguish, facilitating spontaneous termination of fibrillation. The latter effect predominates as dynamical instability increases, so that fibrillation is more likely to self-terminate in a finite-sized tissue. 2) In two-dimensional tissue, the average duration of fibrillation increases exponentially as tissue area increases. In three-dimensional tissue, the average duration of fibrillation decreases initially as tissue thickness increases as a result of thickness-induced instability but then increases after a critical thickness is reached. Therefore, in addition to tissue mass and geometry, dynamical instability is an important factor influencing the maintenance of cardiac fibrillation.

self-termination; dynamical instability; tissue size; simulation

This article has been cited by other articles:

				G. Laurent, H. Leong-Poi, I. Mangat, G. W. Moe, X. Hu, P. P.-S. So, E. Tarulli, A. Ramadeen, E. I. Rossman, J. K. Hennan, et al. Effects of Chronic Gap Junction Conduction-Enhancing Antiarrhythmic Peptide GAP-134 Administration on Experimental Atrial Fibrillation in Dogs Circ Arrhythmia Electrophysiol, April 1, 2009; 2(2): 171 - 178. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Harada, H. Honjo, M. Yamazaki, H. Nakagawa, Y. S. Ishiguro, Y. Okuno, T. Ashihara, I. Sakuma, K. Kamiya, and I. Kodama Moderate hypothermia increases the chance of spiral wave collision in favor of self-termination of ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, April 1, 2008; 294(4): H1896 - H1905. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]