This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Berenfeld, O. Articles by Jalife, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Berenfeld, O. Articles by Jalife, J. Related Collections Angiogenesis Growth factors/cytokines Ischemic biology - basic studies

(Circulation Research. 2001;89:e22.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.

Letter to the Editor

What Is the Organization of Waves in Ventricular Fibrillation?

Omer Berenfeld, Arkady M. Pertsov, José Jalife

Department of Pharmacology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, berenfeo@mail.upstate.edu

To the Editor:

Analysis of the spatiotemporal organization of wave propagation during ventricular fibrillation (VF) can provide important clues about underlying mechanisms.^1,2 Although VF may be the result of the breakup of multiple, randomly propagating wavelets,³ it may also result from rotor-generating wavefronts that break at fixed heterogeneities.⁴ These two apparently vastly different mechanisms are hypothesized to have different signatures in terms of VF dynamics, the latter showing, of course, more organization and stability in its patterns of wave propagation.^5,6 In a recent article published in Circulation Research, Choi et al⁷ presented results of a study of the dynamics of VF in the Langendorff-perfused guinea pig heart. They used optical mapping and various methods of analysis, including spectral and velocity quantification, to characterize the nature of wave organization during VF. The study provides important and useful information, particularly in regard to the existence of action potential duration gradients during VF. However, some of the authors’ conclusions seem premature and potentially misleading and may introduce unnecessary confusion to our current understanding of VF.

For example, on the basis of their analysis of frequency components of optical data from a selected and sparse number of epicardial recording sites, Choi et al⁷ reach the conclusion that multiple peaks, with "no indication of a single dominant frequency" (page e53), characterize their spectra. This conclusion is not surprising given the fact that the authors used an incorrect definition of dominant frequency.⁵ The dominant frequency, as the frequency with the maximal power, is uniquely determined not only for . . . [Full Text of this Article]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B.-R. Choi, T. Liu, and G. Salama Letter to the Editor: Ventricular Fibrillation: Mother Rotor or Multiple Wavelets? Circ. Res., August 17, 2001; 89 (4): e30 - e30. [Full Text] [PDF]