Researchers find new source of dangerous electrical instability in the heart
May 3, 2017
Sudden cardiac death resulting from fibrillation - erratic heartbeat due to electrical instability - is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Now, researchers have discovered a fundamentally new source of that electrical instability, a development that could potentially lead to new methods for predicting and preventing life-threatening cardiac fibrillation.
A steady heartbeat is maintained by electrical signals that originate deep within the heart and travel through the muscular organ in regular waves that stimulate the coordinated contraction of muscle fibers. But when those waves are interrupted by blockages in electrical conduction - such as scar tissue from a heart attack - the signals can be disrupted, creating chaotic spiral-shaped electrical waves that interfere with one another. The resulting electrical turbulence causes the heart to beat ineffectively, quickly leading to death.
Read more at:
https://phys.org/news/2017-05-source-dangerous-electrical-instability-heart.html#jCp
