Introduction Sudden cardiac death (SCD) in athletes is unusual, but the emotional magnitude is great. Underlying cardiac disease is found in the majority of athletes who die young. Commotio cordis is a cause of SCD unrelated to underlying heart disease.…
Understanding and recognition of sex-based differences, with respect to both normal cardiac electrophysiology and the pathophysiology of arrhythmias, are important for the diagnosis and treatment of heart rhythm disorders in women. There are cellular and clinical electrophysiologic differences that have…
The atrioventricular (AV) node is the only connection between the atria and ventricles in the normal heart. It modulates the AV conduction to provide enough delay between atrial and ventricular conduction to allow for ventricular filling. In addition, its decremental…
Since the mid-1980s, there has been a tremendous increase in our knowledge concerning illnesses that result from disturbances in the normal functioning of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Initially, many of these investigations were principally focused on neurocardiogenic (or vasovagal)…
Introduction Although the sinus node has been recognized as the primary cardiac pacemaker for more than a century, our understanding of its complex anatomy, molecular construct, and pacemaking mechanisms remains incomplete. The cell biology of cardiac impulse initiation and propagation…
Definitions and Scope Definitions Syncope is transient loss of consciousness caused by a temporary reduction in cerebral perfusion. , This definition excludes trauma, seizure, metabolic derangements, and psychiatric conditions, which cause loss of consciousness by different mechanisms. , In true…
Acknowledgments This work is supported in part by grants from the US Public Health Service (HL133127, HL108037, and HL081707) and the American Heart Association (18SFRN34230125). Introduction A major challenge in prescribing antiarrhythmic drugs is the occurrence of drug-induced ventricular arrhythmias…
Acknowledgments This work was supported by the National Research Agency (ANR-10-IAHU-04) and the Leducq Foundation (RHYTHM Network). F.D.R. is supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship and a Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada…
The definition of the clinical syndrome of idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (IVF) has evolved over time and continues to do so. Historically, the term IVF was used to describe polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT)/ventricular fibrillation (VF) in the absence of ischemia, structural…
The term J wave syndromes denotes a clinical spectrum of diseases that differ from each other in etiology and clinical characteristics, yet they have similar electrocardiographic features and appear to share arrhythmogenic mechanisms. They include disorders caused by genetic mutations…