Computer based modeling of the congenital long-QT 2 syndrome in the Visible Man torso: From genes to ECG

The congenital long-QT syndrome is commonly associated with a high risk for polymorphic ventricular tachycardia and sudden cardiac death. This is probably due to an intensification of the intrinsic heterogeneities present in ventricular myocardium. Increasing the electrophysiological heterogeneities amplifies the dispersion of repolarization which directly affects the morphology of the T wave in the ECG. The aim of this work is to investigate the effects of LQT2, a specific subtype of the long-QT syndrome (LQTS), on the Body Surface Potential Maps (BSPM) and the ECG. In this context a three-dimensional, heterogeneous model of the human ventricles is used to simulate both physiological and pathological excitation propagation. The results are used as input for the forward calculation of the BSPM and ECG. Characteristic QT prolongation is simulated correctly. The main goal of this study is to prepare and evaluate a simulation environment that can be used prospectively to find features in the ECG or the BSPM that are characteristic for the LQTS. Such features might be used to facilitate the identification of LQTS patients.