Computational model of erratic arrhythmias in a cardiac cell network: the role of gap junctions.

ABSTRACT: Cardiac morbidity and mortality increases with the population age. To investigate the underlying pathological mechanisms, and suggest new ways to reduce clinical risks, computational approaches complementing experimental and clinical investigations are becoming more and more important. Here we explore the possible processes leading to the occasional onset and termination of the (usually) non-fatal arrhythmias widely observed in the heart. Using a computational model of a two-dimensional network of cardiac cells, we tested the hypothesis that an ischemia alters the properties of the gap junctions inside the ischemic area. In particular, in agreement with experimental findings, we assumed that an ischemic episode can alter the gap junctions of the affected cells by reducing their average con

SUBMITTER: Casaleggio A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4062566 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature