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) All Versions of this Article: 294/1/H1    most recent 00802.2007v1 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 (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Clusin, W. T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Clusin, W. T.

INVITED REVIEW

Mechanisms of calcium transient and action potential alternans in cardiac cells and tissues

Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford University Hospital, Stanford; and Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Hospital, Palo Alto, California

Alternation of cardiac action potential duration (APD) from beat to beat and concurrent alternation of the amplitude of the calcium transient are regarded as important arrhythmia mechanisms. These phenomena are causally interrelated and can be reliably evoked by an increase in beat frequency or by ischemia. The first part of this historical review deals with the physiology of APD alternans. Sections recounting the evolution of knowledge about calcium-activated ion currents and calcium transient alternans are interspersed among sections describing the growth of the so-called "restitution hypothesis," which involves time-dependent recovery of potassium channels (including their passage through pre-open states) as a function of diastolic interval. Major developments are generally in chronological order, but it is necessary to move back and forth between the two theories to respect the overall time line, which runs from about l965 to the present. The concluding two sections deal with the pathophysiology of calcium transient and APD alternans during ischemia, which may be the basis for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest during the initial stages of acute myocardial infarction.

sarcoplasmic reticulum; arrhythmias

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. de Diego, R. K. Pai, A. S. Dave, A. Lynch, M. Thu, F. Chen, L.-H. Xie, J. N. Weiss, and M. Valderrabano Spatially discordant alternans in cardiomyocyte monolayers Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, March 1, 2008; 294(3): H1417 - H1425. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]