title: Drift of Scroll Wave Filaments in an Anisotropic Model of the Left Ventricle of the Human Heart.
abstract: Scroll waves are three-dimensional vortices which occur in excitable media. Their formation in the heart results in the onset of cardiac arrhythmias, and the dynamics of their filaments determine the arrhythmia type. Most studies of filament dynamics were performed in domains with simple geometries and generic description of the anisotropy of cardiac tissue. Recently, we developed an analytical model of fibre structure and anatomy of the left ventricle (LV) of the human heart. Here, we perform a systematic study of the dynamics of scroll wave filaments for the cases of positive and negative tension in this anatomical model. We study the various possible shapes of LV and different degree of anisotropy of cardiac tissue. We show that, for positive filament tension, the final position of scroll wave filament is mainly determined by the thickness of the myocardial wall but, however, anisotropy attracts the filament to the LV apex. For negative filament tension, the filament buckles, and for most cases, tends to the apex of the heart with no or slight dependency on the thickness of the LV. We discuss the mechanisms of the observed phenomena and their implications for cardiac arrhythmias.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematical Physics and Astronomy, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium ; Department of Functions Approximation Theory, Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics, Ekaterinburg 620990, Russia ; Laboratory of Mathematical Physiology, Institute of Immunology and Physiology, Ekaterinburg 620041, Russia ; Laboratory of Mathematical Modeling in Physiology and Medicine, Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg 620000, Russia.
authors.forename: Sergei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pravdin
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematical Physics and Astronomy, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dierckx
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Mathematical Physiology, Institute of Immunology and Physiology, Ekaterinburg 620041, Russia ; Laboratory of Mathematical Modeling in Physiology and Medicine, Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg 620000, Russia.
authors.forename: Vladimir S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Markhasin
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematical Physics and Astronomy, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Alexander V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Panfilov
mesh_terms: D016880:Anisotropy; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006352:Heart Ventricles; D006801:Humans; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D016276:Ventricular Function