Altered Sodium Channel Function Linked To Heart Failure

... The results of a new study using mice and heart muscle cells from rabbits have provided a potential molecular explanation for the abnormally rapid heartbeats known as ventricular tachyarrhythmias (VTs) that can cause the sudden death associated with heart failure. Researchers from Georg-August-University Göttingen, Germany, show that overexpression of CaMKII alters the function of channels that regulate sodium ion influx into heart muscle cells, something that has been linked with VTs in genetically susceptible individuals. ...