Grant: Operating Grant

A major cause of sudden death is the development of a sustained very rapid heart rate associated with damage to cardiac muscle due to reduced blood supply. Several treatments have been developed to avoid this situation including the use of drugs to manage heart rate, implantable devices to reset the heart rate if an irregular rhythm is detected, and interventions where segments of cardiac muscle are destroyed to avoid conditions which can cause the rapid heart rate. Unfortunately, it is difficult to predict who will benefit from these therapies. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is proving very effective in characterizing damage to the cardiac muscle. Several studies suggest that such information can be used to better manage patients at risk of sudden death due to sustained rapid heart rates. Our goal is to better understand how such information is related to the underlying causes of this condition and to exploit this information to improve patient management. To do so, we plan to characterize the movement of electrical signals in the heart via correlation of electrical properties to spatial maps of tissue damage determined from MR images, studying these measurements initially in animal models and explanted hearts,and finally in patients at risk of developing rapid heart rates. Through these studies, we hope to be able to better plan and assess interventions aimed at adjusting the electrical circuitry of the heart, yielding better outcomes for this patient population.