Left to Right Atrial Electrophysiological Differences: Substrate for a Dominant Reentrant Source during Atrial Fibrillation

摘要

Experimentally observed differences in the action potential (AP) properties - primarily, refractoriness - between the left (LA) and right (RA) atria are believed to be important in maintaining atrial fibrillation. We incorporate AP models for single LA and RA cells into 2D atrial tissue models and study the role of tissue heterogeneity in global interaction between reentrant spiral waves in the LA and RA. Our simulations show that shorter refractoriness in the LA translates into a shorter period of spiral rotation, and as a result, reentry in the LA dominates the overall excitation patterns in the atria.