EPL 104, 48002 (2013)

ISSN: 0295-5075, SCI

Predicting self-terminating ventricular fibrillations in an isolated heart

Duy-Manh Le, Alexey V. Dvornikov, Pik-Yin Lai and C. K. Chan

Ventricular fibrillations (VFs) in isolated hearts induced by fast pacing are studied in a Langendorff preparation by measuring the electrical signals from the right atrium (Va) and the ventricle (Vv). We find that when there is a strong component of Vv detected in Va during VF, the induced VFs are usually not self-terminating. Criteria for the prediction of self-terminating VFs are developed based on the analysis of Vv and Va by the cross-wavelet power spectrum and cross- Fourier power spectrum methods. The success rate of our prediction criteria is about 80–90%. Our findings suggest that a heart under VF can recover its sinus rhythm only when the sino-atrial node of the heart is not under strong influence of the VF from its ventricle.

DOI: 10.1209/0295-5075/104/48002

Download: