Mechanisms of Cardiac Arrhythmias

Overview

Journal J Arrhythm

Publisher Wiley

Date 2016 Apr 20

PMID 27092186

Citations 87

Authors

Gary Tse

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Blood circulation is the result of the beating of the heart, which provides the mechanical force to pump oxygenated blood to, and deoxygenated blood away from, the peripheral tissues. This depends critically on the preceding electrical activation. Disruptions in the orderly pattern of this propagating cardiac excitation wave can lead to arrhythmias. Understanding of the mechanisms underlying their generation and maintenance requires knowledge of the ionic contributions to the cardiac action potential, which is discussed in the first part of this review. A brief outline of the different classification systems for arrhythmogenesis is then provided, followed by a detailed discussion for each mechanism in turn, highlighting recent advances in this area.

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