Lifetimes of epicardial rotors in panoramic optical maps of fibrillating swine ventricles.

ABSTRACT: During ventricular fibrillation (VF), electrical activation waves are fragmented, and the heart cannot contract in synchrony. It has been proposed that VF waves emanate from stable periodic sources (often called "mother rotors"). The objective of the present study was to determine if stable rotors are consistently present on the epicardial surface of hearts comparable in size to human hearts. Using new optical mapping technology, we imaged VF from nearly the entire ventricular surface of six isolated swine hearts. Using newly developed pattern analysis algorithms, we identified and tracked VF wave fronts and phase singularities (PS; the pivot point of a reentrant wave front). We introduce the notion of a compound rotor in which the rotor's central PS can change and describe an algorithm fo

SUBMITTER: Kay MW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1779904 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature