Intercalated discs as a cause for discontinuous propagation in cardiac muscle: a theoretical simulation.

A theoretical model of a cardiac muscle fiber (strand) based on core conductor principles and which includes a periodic intercalated disc structure has been developed. The model allows for examination of the mechanism of electrical propagation in cardiac muscle on a microscopic cell-to-cell level. The results of the model simulations demonstrate the discontinuous nature of electrical propagation in cardiac muscle and the inability of classical continuous cable theory to adequately describe propagation phenomena in cardiac muscle.