TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Anti-Arrhythmic Drugs A1 - Sampson, Kevin J. A1 - Kass, Robert S. A2 - Brunton, Laurence L. A2 - Chabner, Bruce A. A2 - Knollmann, Björn C. PY - 2015 T2 - Goodman & Gilman's: The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 12e AB - Cardiac cells undergo depolarization and repolarization to form cardiac action potentials ∼60 times/ minute. The shape and duration of each action potential are determined by the activity of ion channel protein complexes in the membranes of individual cells, and the genes encoding most of these proteins now have been identified. Thus, each heartbeat results from the highly integrated electrophysiologic behavior of multiple proteins on multiple cardiac cells. Ion channel function can be perturbed by inherited mutation/polymorphism, acute ischemia, sympathetic stimulation, or myocardial scarring to create abnormalities of cardiac rhythm, or arrhythmias. Available anti-arrhythmic drugs suppress arrhythmias by blocking flow through specific ion channels or by altering autonomic function. An increasingly sophisticated understanding of the molecular basis of normal and abnormal cardiac rhythm may lead to identification of new targets for anti-arrhythmic drugs and perhaps improved therapies. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2023/09/22 UR - accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1127867929 ER -