Mechano-electrical interactions and heterogeneities in wild-type and drug-induced long QT syndrome rabbits.

Electromechanical reciprocity - comprising electro-mechanical (EMC) and mechano-electric coupling (MEC) - provides cardiac adaptation to changing physiological demands. Understanding electromechanical reciprocity and its impact on function and heterogeneity in pathological conditions - such as (drug-induced) acquired long QT syndrome (aLQTS) - might lead to novel insights in arrhythmogenesis. Our aim is to investigate how electrical changes impact on mechanical function (EMC) and vice versa (MEC) under physiological conditions and in aLQTS.

Hyperinsulinemic Hypoglycemia Associated with a Ca1.2 Variant with Mixed Gain- and Loss-of-Function Effects.

The voltage-dependent L-type calcium channel isoform Ca1.2 is critically involved in many physiological processes, e.g.

A computational model of rabbit geometry and ECG: Optimizing ventricular activation sequence and APD distribution.

Computational modeling of electrophysiological properties of the rabbit heart is a commonly used way to enhance and/or complement findings from classic lab work on single cell or tissue levels. Yet, thus far, there was no possibility to extend the scope to include the resulting body surface potentials as a way of validation or to investigate the effect of certain pathologies. Based on CT imaging, we developed the first openly available computational geometrical model not only of the whole heart but also the complete torso of the rabbit.

A Fully-Coupled Electro-Mechanical Whole-Heart Computational Model: Influence of Cardiac Contraction on the ECG.

The ECG is one of the most commonly used non-invasive tools to gain insights into the electrical functioning of the heart. It has been crucial as a foundation in the creation and validation of models describing the underlying electrophysiological processes. However, so far, the contraction of the heart and its influences on the ECG have mainly been overlooked in models.