Abstract
Our hosts, Drs. Bouman and Jongsma, have asked me to summarize the different mechanisms by which spontaneous activity might arise in a cluster of cells, adding that, in their view, a cluster of cells must be taken as the model rather than the single cell to allow for the possible role of reentry as a mechanism for spontaneous activity. In response to their suggestion, I will point out a few ways in which a cell or a collection of cells could serve as a pacemaker and consider some ways in which the rate of such a pacemaker might be varied.
Supported by a grant from The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (HL 14899).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Antzelevitch, C., Jalife, J. and Moe, G.K.: Characteristics of reflection as a mechanism of reentrant arrythmias and its relationship to parasystole. Circulation, 61: 182–191, 1980.
Cranefield, P.F.: The conduction of the cardiac impulse. The slow response and cardiac arrhythmias. Mount Kisco, N.Y., Futura, pp. 185, 1975.
Cranefield, P.F.: Action potentials, after potential s and arrhythmias. Circ. Res., 41: 415–423, 1977.
Cranefield, P.F.: Does spontaneous activity arise from phase 4 depolarization or from triggering? In: The Sinus Node. Structure, Function and Clinical Relevance, Bonke, F.I.M., ed., Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, pp. 348–336, 1978.
Draper, M.H. and Weidmann, S.: Cardiac resting and action potentials recorded with an intracellular electrode. J. Physiol., 115: 74–94, 1951.
Gadsby, D.C., Wit, A.L. and Cranefield, P.F.: Overdrive suppression of triggered atrial tachycardia arising in the canine coronary sinus. (Abstr.) Amer. J. Cardiol., 43: 374, 1979..
Joyner, R.W., Westerfield, M. and Moore, J.W.: Effects of cellular geometry on current flow during a propagated action potential. Biophysical J., 31: 183–194, 1980..
Mayer, A.G.: Rhythmical pulsation in Scyphomedusae: II. In: Papers from the Tortugas Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. I: 113–131 (Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication No. 102, part VII), 1908.
Mines, G.R.: On circulating excitations in heart muscles and their possible relation to tachycardia and fibrillation. Trans. Roy. Soc. Can. Ser. 3, sec. 4, 8: 43–52, 1914.
Ramon, F. and Moore, J.W.: Propagation of action potentials in squid giant axons. Repetitive firing at regions of membrane inhomogeneities. J. Gen. Physiol., 73: 595–603, 1979.
Trautwein, W. and Zink, K.: Ueber Membran und Aktionspotentials einzelner Myokardfasern des Kalt und Warmblueterherzens. Pflueger’s Arch., 256: 68–84, 1952.
Vassalle, M.: Cardiac pacemaker potentials at different extra- and intracellular K concentrations. Amer. J. Physiol., 208: 770–775, 1965.
Vassalle, M., Cummins, M., Castro, C. and Stuckey, J.H.: The relationship between overdrive suppression and overdrive excitation in ventricular pacemakers in dogs. Circ. Res., 38: 367–374, 1975.
Vassalle, M., Knob, R.E., Cummins, M., Lara, G.A., Castro, C. and Stuckey, J.H.: An analysis of fast idioventricular rhythm in the dog. Circ. Res., 41: 218–226, 1977.
West, T.C.: Effects of chronotropic influences on subthreshold oscillations in the sino-atrial node. In: The Specialized Tissues of the Heart, Paes de Carvalho, A., de Mello, W.C. and Hoffman, B.F., eds., Amsterdam, Elsevier, pp. 81–94, 1961.
Wit, A.L. and Cranefield, P.F.: Triggered and automatic activity in the canine coronary sinus. Circ. Res., 41: 435–455, 1977.
Wit, A.L. and Cranefield, P.F.: Reentrant excitation as a cause of cardiac arrhythmias. Amer. J. Physiol., 235: H1–H17, 1978.
Wit, A.L., Hoffman, B.F. and Cranefield, P.F.: Slow conduction and reentry in the ventricular conduction system. I. Return extrasystole in canine Purkinje fibers. Circulation Res., 30: 1–10, 1972.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1982 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cranefield, P.F. (1982). Pacemaker Mechanisms. In: Bouman, L.N., Jongsma, H.J. (eds) Cardiac Rate and Rhythm. Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol 17. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7535-4_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7535-4_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-009-7537-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-7535-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive