In Silico Simulation of Mouse Atrioventricular Conduction Including Sinus Node and Atrial Myocardium

Diego Gazzoni, Eugenio Ricci, Chiara Bartolucci, Stefano Severi
University of Bologna


Abstract

This work aims to investigate the mouse atrioventricular node conduction by using in silico simulations. Firstly, a 1D cable composed of sinus node, atrium and atrioventric- ular node cells is simulated to analyse the conduction in healthy and If block conditions, without showing appre- ciable atrioventricular conduction impairments, but only conduction velocity decrease of about 0.4 cm/s. In addi- tion, poor AVN coupling conditions are tested, showing macroscopic conduction dysfunction. Secondly, the focus is put on the AVN, increasing its resolution by simulating the fast and slow pathways. The fast pathway is hypoth- esised to be made of half atrial and half atrioventricular node cells, while the slow pathway is made only of nodal cells. From this model, it is possible to appreciate the capability of obtaining early His activation from the fast pathway, according to the state-of the-art knowledge about the mammalian atrioventricular node. In case of If block, the atrial-His time shows a slight increase of about 0.1 ms. Thirdly, an even more complex 2D setup is tested to simu- late the mouse's Koch's triangle with the main AVN land- marks. The main result is the absence of two clear prop- agation pathways; however, a slight time delay between upper and lower His activation is found, of about 0.1 ms.