Characteristics of activation waves immediately following unsuccessful defibrillation in a computer model of the right atrium

Atrial fibrillation is a common disorder associated with significant morbidity and mortality. This study describes a novel computer model designed to simulate defibrillation of the entire right atrium. Six model atria were defibrillated at seven sequential times. Our results indicate that the activation waves propagating immediately following unsuccessful defibrillation occur in cells with exposure to less current during the defibrillation (p<0.0001), and less recovery time following their last activation (p<0.0001)