Figure 7.
AF Potentiates Spontaneous Electrical Activity in Human Atrial Myocytes
(A) Current recordings in myocytes from patients without and with AF. A spontaneous ITI current is indicated with a dotted red line, and the resulting reduction in ICa density is indicated with an asterisk. (B) Incidence of spontaneous ITIs at increasing stimulation frequencies (given below bars). (C) Action potential recordings in myocytes from patients without and with AF. Spontaneous membrane depolarizations are indicated with an asterisk. (D) Incidence of spontaneous depolarizations at increasing stimulation frequencies (given below bars). Data are given as mean ± SEM. The number of patients is indicated in parenthesis. The P values above graphs indicate the statistical differences between patients without (no AF) and with AF (2-way analysis of variance). Asterisks indicate a statistically significant difference between AF and no AF for each frequency (Bonferroni post hoc test). ∗P < 0.05; ∗∗P < 0.01; ∗∗∗P < 0.001.