Cardiac electric field at the period of depolarization and repolarization of the frog heart ventricle

Multichannel mapping of electrical field on heart ventricle epicardium and the body surface in frogs Rana esculenta and Rana temporaria was performed at periods of the ventricular myocardium depolarization and repolarization. The zone of the epicardium early depolarization is located on epicardium of the ventricle base posterior wall, while the late depolarization zone--on its apex and on the base anterior wall. The total vector of sequence of the ventricle epicardium depolarization is directed from the base to the apex. The zone of the early repolarization is located in the apical area, while that of the late one--in the area of the base. On the frog body surface the cardioelectric field with the cranial zone of negative and the caudal zone of positive potentials is formed before the appearance of the QRS complex on ECG. At the period of the heart ventricle repolarization the zone of the cardioelectric field negative potentials is located in the cranial, while that of the positive ones--in the body surface caudal parts. The cardioelectric field on the frog body surface at the periods of depolarization and repolarization of the ventricle myocardium reflects adequately the projection of sequence of involvement with excitation and of distribution of potentials on epicardium.     

Cardiac electric field at the period of depolarization and repolarization of the frog heart ventricle

Multichannel mapping of electrical field on heart ventricle epicardium and the body surface in frogs Rana esculenta and Rana temporaria was performed at periods of the ventricular myocardium depolarization and repolarization. The zone of the epicardium early depolarization is located on epicardium of the ventricle base posterior wall, while the late depolarization zone—on its apex and on the base anterior wall. The total vector of sequence of the ventricle epicardium depolarization is directed from the base to the apex. The zone of the early repolarization is located in the apical area, while that of the late one—in the area of the base. On the frog body surface the cardioelectric field with the cranial zone of negative and the caudal zone of positive potentials is formed before the appearance of the QRS complex on ECG. At the period of the heart ventricle repolarization the zone of the cardioelectric field negative potentials is located in the cranial, while that of the positive ones—in the body surface caudal parts. The cardioelectric field on the frog body surface at the periods of depolarization and repolarization of the ventricle myocardium reflects adequately the projection of sequence of involvement with excitation and of distribution of potentials on epicardium.     

Sequence of ventricular repolarization under body cooling in the frog

Lowering the temperature is known to prolong the repolarization of cardiomyocytes. However, whether the prolongation of action potentials is uniform throughout the myocardium, and whether this prolongation is obvious in ECG, remains unclear. Ventricular repolarization sequences and body surface potential distributions were studied in 20 frogs Rana temporaria using epicardial and body surface potential mapping. An apex-to-base ventricular repolarization sequence corresponded to the distribution of local repolarization durations was demonstrated at the temperature of 18 degrees C. The body surface potential distribution during the ST-T complex was characterized by the cranial negative and caudal positive potential areas. Under the body cooling to 10 degrees C, repolarization prolonged to a greater extent at the apex that resulted in the base-to-apex repolarization sequence, which, in turn, caused an inversion in the body surface potential distribution with cranial portion of the body being positive and caudal portion being negative.     

Cardiac electric field on the epicardial and body surfaces during the period of depolarization and repolarization of ventricular myocardium in pikes

Body surface and ventricular epicardial potential distributions during the electrocardiographic QRST interval were studied in pikes with the aid of potential mapping. The earliest epicardial activation was observed at the posterior base near the atrioventricular orifice. The areas of the earliest repolarization were found at the apex and the posterior base, whereas the area of the latest repolarization was detected at the anterior base. In the initial period of the QRS, the minimum was developed in the middle third of the right lateral body surface, and the maximum in the middle third of the ventral body surface. The body surface potential distribution during the ST-Twas characterized by the clear-cut negative potential zone in the cranial ventral area with the rest of the body surface having positive potentials, a pattern being largely unchanged throughout the period of the T-wave. The ventricular epicardial repolarization sequence differed from the activation sequence. The ventricular epicardial depolarization and repolarization sequences as well as epicardial potential distributions are expressed in the cardiac electric field on the body surface during the QRS and ST-T complexes.     

Depolarisation and repolarisation sequences of ventricular epicardium in chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus)

Activation and recovery sequences were mapped by means of 64-channel synchronous recording of extracellular potentials on ventricular epicardium in chickens. Ventricular epicardium was depolarized due to multiple breakthroughs. The recovery of ventricular epicardium occurs from the apex to the base of heart and does not repeat the activation sequence. Gradients of repolarisation exist over the ventricular epicardium in birds. Repolarisation pattern of ventricular epicardium depends primarily on intrinsic spatial heterogeneities of ARIs over epicardium.     

Time correlation of the cardiac electric field on the body surface and depolarization sequences in the pigeon heart ventricle epicardium

Multifocal depolarisation of the pigeon ventricle's epicardium was revealed. A time inversion correlation was found between cardiac electrical field's positive and negative areas on the body surface and the multifocal depolarisation of the ventricle epicardium, during the period of initial ventricular activity.     

The contribution of ventricular apicobasal and transmural repolarization patterns to the development of the T wave body surface potentials in frogs (Rana temporaria) and pike (Esox lucius)

The study aimed at the simultaneous determination of the transmural and apicobasal differences in the repolarization timing and the comparison of the contributions of these two repolarization gradients to the development of the body surface T wave potentials in animals with the single heart ventricle (fishes and amphibians). Unipolar potentials were measured on the body surface, epicardium and in the intramural (subepicardial, Epi; midmyocardial; and subendocardial, Endo) ventricular layers of 9 pike and 8 frogs. Activation times, repolarization times and activation-recovery intervals were determined. A transmural gradient in repolarization durations in frogs (Endo>Epi, P<0.024) corresponds to the gradient in repolarization times. No significant transmural difference in repolarization duration is observed in pike that produces a repolarization sequence from Endo to Epi (Endo相似文献   

Evolution and Development of Ventricular Septation in the Amniote Heart

During cardiogenesis the epicardium, covering the surface of the myocardial tube, has been ascribed several functions essential for normal heart development of vertebrates from lampreys to mammals. We investigated a novel function of the epicardium in ventricular development in species with partial and complete septation. These species include reptiles, birds and mammals. Adult turtles, lizards and snakes have a complex ventricle with three cava, partially separated by the horizontal and vertical septa. The crocodilians, birds and mammals with origins some 100 million years apart, however, have a left and right ventricle that are completely separated, being a clear example of convergent evolution. In specific embryonic stages these species show similarities in development, prompting us to investigate the mechanisms underlying epicardial involvement. The primitive ventricle of early embryos becomes septated by folding and fusion of the anterior ventricular wall, trapping epicardium in its core. This folding septum develops as the horizontal septum in reptiles and the anterior part of the interventricular septum in the other taxa. The mechanism of folding is confirmed using DiI tattoos of the ventricular surface. Trapping of epicardium-derived cells is studied by transplanting embryonic quail pro-epicardial organ into chicken hosts. The effect of decreased epicardium involvement is studied in knock-out mice, and pro-epicardium ablated chicken, resulting in diminished and even absent septum formation. Proper folding followed by diminished ventricular fusion may explain the deep interventricular cleft observed in elephants. The vertical septum, although indistinct in most reptiles except in crocodilians and pythonidsis apparently homologous to the inlet septum. Eventually the various septal components merge to form the completely septated heart. In our attempt to discover homologies between the various septum components we aim to elucidate the evolution and development of this part of the vertebrate heart as well as understand the etiology of septal defects in human congenital heart malformations.     

Epicardial suction: a new approach to mechanical testing of the passive ventricular wall

The lack of an appropriate three-dimensional constitutive relation for stress in passive ventricular myocardium currently limits the utility of existing mathematical models for experimental and clinical applications. Previous experiments used to estimate parameters in three-dimensional constitutive relations, such as biaxial testing of excised myocardial sheets or passive inflation of the isolated arrested heart, have not included significant transverse shear deformation or in-plane compression. Therefore, a new approach has been developed in which suction is applied locally to the ventricular epicardium to introduce a complex deformation in the region of interest, with transmural variations in the magnitude and sign of nearly all six strain components. The resulting deformation is measured throughout the region of interest using magnetic resonance tagging. A nonlinear, three-dimensional, finite element model is used to predict these measurements at several suction pressures. Parameters defining the material properties of this model are optimized by comparing the measured and predicted myocardial deformations. We used this technique to estimate material parameters of the intact passive canine left ventricular free wall using an exponential, transversely isotropic constitutive relation. We tested two possible models of the heart wall: first, that it was homogeneous myocardium, and second, that the myocardium was covered with a thin epicardium with different material properties. For both models, in agreement with previous studies, we found that myocardium was nonlinear and anisotropic with greater stiffness in the fiber direction. We obtained closer agreement to previously published strain data from passive filling when the ventricular wall was modeled as having a separate, isotropic epicardium. These results suggest that epicardium may play a significant role in passive ventricular mechanics.     

Effect of hypothermia on sequence of the ventricle epicardium repolarization in rabbits]

In anaesthetised rabbits at normal body temperature, the earliest ventricles' epicardial recovery occurs at the heart apex and adjacent left ventricle's surface whereas the latest one occurs at the epicardium of the right ventricle's base. A decrease in the mediastinum temperature to 32 degrees C reversed the recovery sequence. Following the cooling of the heart, the longest prolongation of the activation-recovery interval occurred at the heart apex area and the lowest one--at the right ventricle base.     

Correlation in the of the process of cardiac ventricle intramural depolarization and distribution of cardioelectric field potentials of the dog Canis familiaris

Based on a multichannel synchronous mapping of heart electric potentials, the sequence in time of the ventricle myocardium depolarization was compared with dynamics of distribution of cardioelectric potentials on the body surface in a dog. The cardioelectric field on the dog body surface at the period of the initial ventricular activity has been shown to be characterized by the presence of two inversions of the mutual disposition of areas of positive and negative potentials. Contribution to formation of distribution of the cardioelectric potentials on the body surface at each moment of the period of initial ventricular activity was made by all myocardial layers involved by excitation.     

Correlation in time of the process of cardiac ventricle intramural depolarization and of distribution of cardioelectric field potentials of the dog <Emphasis Type="Italic">Canis famjliaris</Emphasis>

Based on a multichannel synchronous mapping of heart electric potentials, the sequence in time of the ventricle myocardium depolarization was compared with dynamics of distribution of cardioelectric potentials on the dog body surface. The cardioelectric field on the dog body surface at the period of the initial ventricular activity has been shown to be characterized by the presence of two inversions of the mutual disposition of areas of positive and negative potentials. Contribution to formation of distribution of the cardioelectric potentials on the body surface at each moment of the period of initial ventricular activity was made by all myocardial layers involved in excitation.     

Transmural reentry triggered by epicardial stimulation during acute ischemia in canine ventricular muscle

Ischemia depresses tissue excitability more rapidly in the ventricular epicardium than in the endocardium. We hypothesized that this would provide the substrate for transmural reentry originating in the epicardium. We mapped transmural conduction in isolated and perfused wedges taken from canine left ventricles during global ischemia while pacing alternately between the epicardium and endocardium. Ischemia reduced conduction velocity more in the epicardium than in the endocardium. We observed that the epicardial-initiated activation penetrated the ventricular wall transmurally while failing to conduct laterally along the epicardium, then conducted laterally along the endocardium and midmyocardium, and reentered the epicardium in 9 of 16 wedges during epicardial stimulation after 600 +/- 182 s of ischemia. Endocardial stimulation applied immediately before or after the epicardial stimulation initiated activation that spread quickly along the endocardium and then transmurally to the epicardium without reentry in six of the nine wedges. The transmural asymmetric conduction was not observed in four separate wedges after the endocardium was removed. Therefore, ischemia-induced transmural gradient of excitability provided the substrate for reentry during epicardial stimulation.     

Cardioelectric Field on the Bird Body Surface during Activation of Atrial Myocardium

Cardioelectric field (CEF) on the body surface of birds (hen and pigeon) at the period of atrial excitation was studied by the method of the 64-channel synchronous electrocardiotopography. At the period of the atrial depolarization in the birds the zone of CEF negative potentials on the body surface is located cranially with respect to the zone of positive potentials. At the initial moments of P wave the minimum is located in the cranial (hen) or middle (pigeon) third of the dorsal body surface, while the maximum—in the area of the heart projection onto the ventral (hen) or left-lateral (pigeon) body surface. The maximum and minimum of the potential reach the greatest value at the period of the middle part of the P wave (near the peak), their amplitude being higher in pigeons. The distribution dynamics of the CEF potentials on the body surface is similar in different bird species and is characterized by stability in mutual disposition of positive and negative zones. The interspecies and intraspecies CEF variability on the body surface at the period of the atrial activation seems to be due to differences in the heart disposition in the chest. At the period of the atrial myocardium activation, CEF on the bird body surface reflects adequately projection of the potential distribution on epicardium and the sequence of spreading of excitation in the atrial myocardium, including that in the presence of several fronts of depolarization waves.     

IGF signaling directs ventricular cardiomyocyte proliferation during embryonic heart development

Secreted factors from the epicardium are believed to be important in directing heart ventricular cardiomyocyte proliferation and morphogenesis, although the specific factors involved have not been identified or characterized adequately. We found that IGF2 is the most prominent mitogen made by primary mouse embryonic epicardial cells and by a newly derived immortalized mouse embryonic epicardial cell line called MEC1. In vivo, Igf2 is expressed in the embryonic mouse epicardium during midgestation heart development. Using a whole embryo culture assay in the presence of inhibitors, we confirmed that IGF signaling is required to activate the ERK proliferation pathway in the developing heart, and that the epicardium is required for this response. Global disruption of the Igf2 gene, or conditional disruption of the two IGF receptor genes Igf1r and Insr together in the myocardium, each resulted in a significant decrease in ventricular wall proliferation and in ventricular wall hypoplasia. Ventricular cardiomyocyte proliferation in mutant embryos was restored to normal at E14.5, concurrent with the establishment of coronary circulation. Our results define IGF2 as a previously unexplored epicardial mitogen that is required for normal ventricular chamber development.     

Effect of heart electric stimulation on repolarization of ventricular myocardium of fish and amphibians

The distributions of repolarization durations and end of repolarization time were studied on the ventricular epicardium in pikes (Esox lucius) and frogs (Rana esculenta) and in the ventricular intramural layers in toads (Bufo bufo) at the ectopic heart excitation by using method of the synchronous multielectrode cartography (24 unipolar leads). The time of arrival of the excitation wave and the end of repolarization in each lead were determined from the minimum of time derivative of potential at the period of QRS complex and by minimum of T wave, respectively. It has been established that at the ventricle electrostimulation, alongside with deceleration and a change of sequence of myocardium activation, the redistribution occurs of the local durations of repolarization, being longer than in zones of early activation (p < 0.05). At stimulation, the apicobasal gradient of repolarization is predominantly changed due to electrophysiological processes in the apical areas. In all the studied species, at the ectopic excitation of the heart the sequence of its repolarization repeats the depolarization sequence due to a delay of activation (in fish) and redistribution of repolarization durations (in amphibians).     

Effect of localization of the ectopic excitation site on the sequence and duration of depolarization in the ventricular epicardium in dogs

The depth of the myocardial wall ectopic focus was found to affect spatial and temporal characteristics of the depolarization process in the heart ventricular surface. Duration of the ventricular epicardial depolarization under the ectopic foci located in subendocardial and intramural layers of the myocardium was shorter than in epicardial stimulation of the ventricles. A dependence of the ectopic excitation duration on the pacing site localization in the epicardium, was revealed. The shortest duration of the depolarization occurred under electrical stimulation of the apex and ventral part of the interventricular septum, whereas the longer one--under pacing the left ventricular base.     

Noninvasive three-dimensional electrocardiographic imaging of ventricular activation sequence

Imaging the myocardial activation sequence is critical for improved diagnosis and treatment of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. It is desirable to reveal the underlying cardiac electrical activity throughout the three-dimensional (3-D) myocardium (rather than just the endocardial or epicardial surface) from noninvasive body surface potential measurements. A new 3-D electrocardiographic imaging technique (3-DEIT) based on the boundary element method (BEM) and multiobjective nonlinear optimization has been applied to reconstruct the cardiac activation sequences from body surface potential maps. Ultrafast computerized tomography scanning was performed for subsequent construction of the torso and heart models. Experimental studies were then conducted, during left and right ventricular pacing, in which noninvasive assessment of ventricular activation sequence by means of 3-DEIT was performed simultaneously with 3-D intracardiac mapping (up to 200 intramural sites) using specially designed plunge-needle electrodes in closed-chest rabbits. Estimated activation sequences from 3-DEIT were in good agreement with those constructed from simultaneously recorded intracardiac electrograms in the same animals. Averaged over 100 paced beats (from a total of 10 pacing sites), total activation times were comparable (53.3 +/- 8.1 vs. 49.8 +/- 5.2 ms), the localization error of site of initiation of activation was 5.73 +/- 1.77 mm, and the relative error between the estimated and measured activation sequences was 0.32 +/- 0.06. The present experimental results demonstrate that the 3-D paced ventricular activation sequence can be reconstructed by using noninvasive multisite body surface electrocardiographic measurements and imaging of heart-torso geometry. This new 3-D electrocardiographic imaging modality has the potential to guide catheter-based ablative interventions for the treatment of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias.     

A constitutive theory for biomembranes: application to epicardial mechanics.

We present a new theoretically motivated experimental approach for identifying the functional form of a constitutive relation for any nonlinear, anisotropic pseudoelastic biological membrane. The utility of this approach is illustrated by identifying, from biaxial data, a new constitutive relation for excised ventricular epicardium. Values of the associated material parameters are calculated and compared for right and left ventricular specimens. Based on our findings, we suggest that there are no significant differences in the biomechanical behavior of epicardium excised from the right and left ventricular free walls of canine hearts.