Electromechanical vortex filaments during cardiac fibrillation

Electromechanical vortex filaments during cardiac fibrillation Nature 555, 7698 (2018). doi:10.1038/nature26001 Authors: J. Christoph, M. Chebbok, C. Richter, J. Schröder-Schetelig, P. Bittihn, S. Stein, I. Uzelac, F. H. Fenton, G. Hasenfuß, R. F. Gilmour Jr. & S. Luther The self-organized dynamics of vortex-like rotating waves, which are also known as scroll waves, are the basis of the formation of complex spatiotemporal patterns in many excitable chemical and biological systems. In the heart, filament-like phase singularities that are associated with three-dimensional scroll waves are considered to be the organizing centres of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. The mechanisms that underlie the onset, maintenance and control of electromechanical turbulence in the heart are inherently three-dimensional phenomena. However, it has not previously been possible to visualize the three-dimensional spatiotemporal dynamics of scroll waves inside cardiac tissues. Here we show that three-dimensional mechanical scroll waves and filament-like phase singularities can be observed deep inside the contracting heart wall using high-resolution four-dimensional ultrasound-based strain imaging. We found that mechanical phase singularities co-exist with electrical phase singularities during cardiac fibrillation. We investigated the dynamics of electrical and ...
Source: Nature - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Letter Source Type: research