2024
Overview
Cardiac electrophysiology is the branch of cardiology and physiology that studies the electrical activity of the heart, which controls its rate and rhythm. The heartbeat is driven by electrical impulses that originate in the heart's natural pacemaker and spread through specialised conducting tissue, coordinating the contraction of the upper and lower chambers so that blood is pumped efficiently. These impulses arise from the controlled movement of ions across the membranes of heart muscle cells, producing the action potentials that synchronise each heartbeat. When this electrical system malfunctions, the result can be an abnormal heart rhythm, or arrhythmia, which ranges from harmless to life-threatening and may contribute to heart failure or sudden cardiac death. Cardiac electrophysiology examines how normal electrical signalling is generated and propagated, how it changes with physiological states and disease, and how rhythm disturbances can be diagnosed and treated. Clinical applications include electrocardiography, electrophysiological studies, and procedures such as ablation and the implantation of pacemakers and defibrillators. Research relevant to this topic includes work on heart physiology and pathophysiology and the molecular and electrophysiological mechanisms that maintain cardiac rhythm and function. This page gathers peer-reviewed, open-access research in the International Physiology Journal relevant to cardiac electrophysiology and the electrical function of the heart.
Research published in this journal
1 peer-reviewed article, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.