title: Unstable eigenmodes are possible drivers for cardiac arrhythmias.
abstract: The well-organized contraction of each heartbeat is enabled by an electrical wave traversing and exciting the myocardium in a regular manner. Perturbations to this wave, referred to as arrhythmias, can lead to lethal fibrillation if not treated within minutes. One manner in which arrhythmias originate is an ill-fated interaction of the regular electrical signal controlling the heartbeat, the sinus wave, with an ectopic stimulus. It is not fully understood how and when ectopic waves are generated. Based on mathematical models, we show that ectopic beats can be characterized in terms of unstable eigenmodes of the resting state.
authors.affiliation: Simula Research Laboratory, Centre for Biomedical Computing, PO Box 134, Lysaker 1325, Norway. aslak@simula.no
authors.forename: Aslak
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tveito
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lines
authors.forename: Ola
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Skavhaug
authors.forename: Mary M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Maleckar
mesh_terms: D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D009200:Myocardial Contraction