Cardiac Memory: The Slippery Slope Twixt Normalcy and Pathology

‘Cardiac memory’ is an altered repolarization phenotype resulting from prior rate, rhythm and/or activation changes. The various types of memory depend on biophysical properties of cardiac ion channels, and/or trafficking of those channels, and/or epigenetic changes in the genes determining the channels. The processes that engage the memory function presage changes in function that ultimately can lead to pathological remodeling: hence – rather than completely benign - memory may be a warning of disease to come.
Source: Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine - Category: Cardiology Authors: Source Type: research