title: Electrophysiological Mechanisms of Gastrointestinal Arrhythmogenesis: Lessons from the Heart.
abstract: Disruptions in the orderly activation and recovery of electrical excitation traveling through the heart and the gastrointestinal (GI) tract can lead to arrhythmogenesis. For example, cardiac arrhythmias predispose to thromboembolic events resulting in cerebrovascular accidents and myocardial infarction, and to sudden cardiac death. By contrast, arrhythmias in the GI tract are usually not life-threatening and much less well characterized. However, they have been implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of GI motility disorders, including gastroparesis, dyspepsia, irritable bowel syndrome, mesenteric ischaemia, Hirschsprung disease, slow transit constipation, all of which are associated with significant morbidity. Both cardiac and gastrointestinal arrhythmias can broadly be divided into non-reentrant and reentrant activity. The aim of this paper is to compare and contrast the mechanisms underlying arrhythmogenesis in both systems to provide insight into the pathogenesis of GI motility disorders and potential molecular targets for future therapy.
authors.affiliation: Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong KongHong Kong, China; Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong KongHong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tse
authors.affiliation: Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Eric T H
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Alex P W
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Bryan P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Institute of Digestive Disease, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Sunny H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Wong
keywords: arrhythmia; cardiac electrophysiology; electrical excitation; focal activity; gastrointestinal electrophysiology; reentry