Revealing why heart attacks can trigger abnormal heart rhythms or heart failure

An experimental study on the impact of myocyte ultrastructural remodelling on cellular function and arrhythmogenesis following an ischaemic episode (Dr Charlene Pius)

Professor Andrew Trafford and his colleagues at the University of Manchester are working out what factors within cells are responsible for triggering irregular heart rhythms, or arrhythmias. People who have had a recent heart attack are, initially, at very high risk of developing heart failure or dying suddenly due to these dangerous irregular heart rhythms. Following a heart attack, heart muscle cells regulate their calcium levels differently, and this can explain why people are more at risk of developing arrhythmias following a heart attack. In this project, a student working with Professor Trafford and his team will work to understand how these dangerous heart rhythms occur. They will study changes in calcium control, using state-of-the art microscopes to look at, in minute detail, how the structures within heart muscle cells that regulate calcium levels are altered following a heart attack. They will also study, in sheep, cells taken from the heart following a heart attack and stain them with dyes, this will enable them to look at how these structures function and relate to each other. By revealing more about how the fine structure of the heart changes following a heart attack we may identify new ways to prevent or treat arrhythmias and prevent heart failure developing following a heart attack.