Can shocks timed to action potentials in low-gradient regions improve both internal and out-of-hospital defibrillation?

From: Journal of Electrocardiology | Date: January 1, 1998| Author: | Copyright information

Abstract: During the first minute of fibrillation, circulating wavefronts excite new fibrillation action potentials almost immediately following termination of the preceding action potential. The extension of refractoriness hypothesis states that a successful defibrillating shock must produce a uniform postshock refractoriness of a specific optimal duration throughout the ventricle, which blocks these wavefronts and terminates fibrillation. We hypothesized that, if shocks are appropriately timed early in the fibrillation action potential in low-voltage-gradient regions, postshock ...

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