Abstract
The concept of a one-way block, arising from a region of depressed tissue, has remained central to theories for cardiac arrhythmias. We show that both the geometry of a depressed region and spatial heterogeneities in depression are key factors for inducing such a block. By using an asymptotic approximation, known as the eikonal equation, to model qualitatively the movement of a depolarization wave-front down a Purkinje fibre bundle, we show how a one-way block in conduction may result from asymmetric constriction in the width of a depressed bundle. We demonstrate that this theory is valid for biologically relevant parameters and simulate a one-way block by numerically solving the eikonal approximation. We consider the case of non-uniform depression, where the planar travelling wave speed is spatially dependent. Here, numerical simulations indicate that such a spatial dependency may, in itself, be sufficient to produce a one-way block.
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Lewis, M.A., Grindrod, P. One-way blocks in cardiac tissue: A mechanism for propagation failure in purkinje fibres. Bltn Mathcal Biology 53, 881–899 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02461489
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02461489