REENTRY - INSIGHTS FROM THEORETICAL SIMULATIONS IN A FIXED PATHWAY

Reentrant Activity in Cardiac Tissue, This review article summarizes t heoretical insights into the principles and mechanisms associated with reentrant activity in cardiac tissue, A mathematical ring model is us ed in computer simulations to investigate, at the cellular level, mech anistic aspects of initiation, perpetuation, and termination of reentr y, Taking advantage of the ability to compute membrane processes in th is model, we relate dynamic properties of the reentrant action potenti al (e.g., beat-to-beat alternans) to the underlying kinetics of membra ne ionic channels, Effects on reentry of inhomogeneities in refractori ness, excitability, cellular coupling at gap junctions, and fiber cros s-section are also studied.