Clayton, R.H. orcid.org/0000-0002-8438-7518 and Sridhar, S. (2024) Re-entry in models of cardiac ventricular tissue with scar represented as a Gaussian random field. Frontiers in Physiology, 15. 1403545.
Abstract
Introduction: Fibrotic scar in the heart is known to act as a substrate for arrhythmias. Regions of fibrotic scar are associated with slowed or blocked conduction of the action potential, but the detailed mechanisms of arrhythmia formation are not well characterised and this can limit the effective diagnosis and treatment of scar in patients. The aim of this computational study was to evaluate different representations of fibrotic scar in models of 2D 10 × 10 cm ventricular tissue, where the region of scar was defined by sampling a Gaussian random field with an adjustable length scale of between 1.25 and 10.0 mm.
Methods: Cellular electrophysiology was represented by the Ten Tusscher 2006 model for human ventricular cells. Fibrotic scar was represented as a spatially varying diffusion, with different models of the boundary between normal and fibrotic tissue. Dispersion of activation time and action potential duration (APD) dispersion was assessed in each sample by pacing at an S1 cycle length of 400 ms followed by a premature S2 beat with a coupling interval of 323 ms. Vulnerability to reentry was assessed with an aggressive pacing protocol. In all models, simulated fibrosis acted to delay activation, to increase the dispersion of APD, and to generate re-entry.
Results: A higher incidence of re-entry was observed in models with simulated fibrotic scar at shorter length scale, but the type of model used to represent fibrotic scar had a much bigger influence on the incidence of reentry.
Discussion: This study shows that in computational models of fibrotic scar the effects that lead to either block or propagation of the action potential are strongly influenced by the way that fibrotic scar is represented in the model, and so the results of computational studies involving fibrotic scar should be interpreted carefully.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 Clayton and Sridhar. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
Keywords: | cardiac electrophysiology; computer model; cardiac arrhythmia; human ventricles; fibrosis; Gaussian random field; re-entry |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Computer Science (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 16 Jul 2024 11:30 |
Last Modified: | 16 Jul 2024 11:30 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Frontiers Media |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3389/fphys.2024.1403545 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:214816 |