Cardiac Mechano-Electrical Dynamical Instability

TL;DR

This study uncovers a new dynamical instability in cardiac excitation waves driven by stretch-activated currents, leading to spiral wave hypermeandering and potential arrhythmias, through computational modeling.

Contribution

It introduces a novel instability mechanism involving stretch-activated currents and biexcitability, advancing understanding of cardiac arrhythmogenesis.

Findings

Identification of a stretch-activated current-driven instability

Observation of spiral wave hypermeandering

Implications for cardiac arrhythmia onset

Abstract

In a computational study we reveal a novel dynamical instability of excitation waves in the heartmuscle. The instability manifests itself as gradual local increase in the duration of the actionpotential which causes formation and hypermeandering of spiral waves. The mechanism is causedby stretch-activated currents that cause wave front-tail collisions and beat to beat elongation of theaction potential duration due to biexcitability. We discuss the importance of the instability for theonset and dynamics of cardiac arrhythmias.