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Recovery of Cardiac Activity—The T-Wave and Ventricular Gradient

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Pediatric and Fundamental Electrocardiography

Part of the book series: Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine ((DICM,volume 56))

Abstract

Repolarization begins immediately following the depolarization of each cardiac cell. Since the activation of each cell is initiated at a slightly different time, repolarization correspondingly begins at different moments. For this reason, and also because the action potential morphology of each cell is somewhat different, the transmembrane potential will be slightly different between adjoining cells during recovery. Now cardiac cells are interconnected by low-resistance junctions so the spatial variation of transmembrane potentials causes the flow of currents between and among all cells. Because the heart is surrounded by tissues that conduct electricity, the extracellular currents generated during recovery pervade the torso and give rise to observable recovery potentials at the body surface. In any particular body surface potential recording (lead) the potentials due to recovery are designated the T-wave. The sources for the T-wave are the sum total of cellular generators distributed throughout the heart.

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Authors
  1. Robert Plonsey
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, 2101 Adelbert Road, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106, USA

    Jerome Liebman M.D. (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

  2. Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 27706, USA

    Robert Plonsey Ph.D. (Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Physiology) (Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Physiology)

  3. Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106, USA

    Yoram Rudy Ph.D. (Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering) (Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering)

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© 1987 Martinus Nijhoff Publishing

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Plonsey, R. (1987). Recovery of Cardiac Activity—The T-Wave and Ventricular Gradient. In: Liebman, J., Plonsey, R., Rudy, Y. (eds) Pediatric and Fundamental Electrocardiography. Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol 56. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2323-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2323-5_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9428-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-2323-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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