PhD defence E.A.H. (Eva) Blankman-Lanters

In the current thesis, entitled "Atrial Fibrillation from a Sinus Rhythm Point of View", we search for novel electrical, clinical and biological markers to improve our knowledge of Atrial Fibrillation. For this purpose we investigated the electrical conduction properties of the atria during open chest cardiac surgery. We placed  high-resolution electrode on the surface of the heart to record the electrical signals during sinus rhythm and atrial fibrillation. We concluded that even during the normal heart rhythm, there is no such thing as "normal conduction" as conduction patterns varied considerably in our study population. However, conduction abnormalities were more prominent in patients with atrial fibrillation. We also demonstrate how electrical asynchrony between the inside and outside of the heart causes the very complex conduction patterns which are typical for atrial fibrillation. Furthermore, we examined if so-called Heat Shock Proteins could discriminate between the various stages of atrial fibrillation. Although initial results in fruitfly models were promising, Heat Shock Protein levels in either blood or heart tissue samples did not correlate to the presence of the severity of Atrial Fibrillation.

Due to corona, the PhD defences do not take place publicly in the usual way in the Senate Hall or in the Professor Andries Querido Room. The candidates will defend their dissertation either in a small group or online.