Grant: Operating Grant

Heart pumps blood to all parts of the body. The contraction and expansion of the heart is controlled by the rhythmic electrical stimulus generated within it. When a problem occurs in the electrical coordination of the heart, it might result in fibrillation, a phenomenon where the heart frantically quivers resulting in ineffective contraction or expansion. When fibrillation occurs in the ventricles (the lower half of the heart that is responsible for pumping blood out) it results in lethal arrhythmia commonly known as ventricular fibrillation (VF). During VF there is no pumping action and hence no blood supply to other parts of the body. If this condition is left untreated, sudden cardiac death (SCD) occurs within minutes. About 350,000 SCDs occur in North America every year and about 45,000 of them are Canadians. In spite of active research over 100 years, the mechanism behind the VF has been elusive. The proposed research approaches the problem of understanding the human VF mechanism in a new direction using advanced imaging and electrophysiological analysis. Uniquely, this study will be conducted using sick isolated human hearts obtained from consented heart transplant patients. The outcome of this research is expected to inspire new strategies for treating VF thereby saving lives and providing a better quality of life to the affected population.