Nonlinear dynamics, fractals, cardiac physiology and sudden deathThe authors propose a diametrically opposite viewpoint to the generally accepted tendency of equating healthy function with order and disease with chaos. With regard to the question of sudden cardiac death and chaos, it is suggested that certain features of dynamical chaos related to fractal structure and fractal dynamics may be important organizing principles in normal physiology and that certain pathologies, including ventricular fibrillation, represent a class of 'pathological periodicities'. Some laboratory work bearing on the relation of nonlinear analysis to physiological and pathophysiological data is briefly reviewed, with tentative theories and models described in reference to the mechanism of ventricular fibrillation.
Document ID
19890044952
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Goldberger, Ary L. (Beth Israel Hospital Boston, MA, United States)