Epicardial Dispersion of Repolarization Promotes the Onset of Reentry in Brugada Syndrome: A Numerical Simulation Study

The Brugada syndrome (BrS) is a cardiac arrhythmic disorder responsible for sudden cardiac death associated with the onset of ventricular arrhythmias, such as reentrant ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation. The mechanisms which lead to the onset of such electrical disorders in patients affected by BrS are not completely understood, yet. The aim of the present study is to investigate by means of numerical simulations the electrophysiological mechanisms at the basis of the morphology of electrocardiogram (ECG) and the onset of reentry associated with BrS. To this end, we consider the Bidomain equations coupled with the ten Tusscher–Panfilov membrane model, on an idealized wedge of human right ventricular tissue. The results have shown that: (1) epicardial dispersion of repolarization, generated by the coexistence of regions of early and late repolarization, due to different modulation of the ICaL current, produces ECG waveforms exhibiting qualitatively the typical BrS morphology, characterized by ST elevation and partially negative T-waves; (2) epicardial dispersion of repolarization promotes the onset of reentry during the implementation of the programmed stimulation protocol, because of the conduction block occurring when a premature beat reaches the border of late repolarizing regions; and (3) the modulation of the Ito current affects the duration of reentry, which becomes sustained with a remarkable increase of Ito in the subepicardial layers.