title: Transthoracic echocardiography in rats. Evalution of commonly used indices of left ventricular dimensions, contractile performance, and hypertrophy in a genetic model of hypertrophic heart failure (SHHF-Mcc-facp-Rats) in comparison with Wistar rats during aging.
abstract: Two-weekly echocardiographic examinations were conducted in nine SHHF-Mc-fa(cp) rats in comparison with eight age-matched Wistar rats. In the SHHF-rats, characterized by progressive LV-dilation and decreasing contractile function between 77-87 weeks of age, left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy was most sensitively demonstrated by increased LV-mass-index (p < 0.001). LV-areas and area-ejection fraction (EF) (2D-images) discriminated more sensitively in the early stages than M-mode-derived diameters and fractional shortening (FS); midwall shortening was the most sensitive parameter of reduced systolic function. Post-mortem measurements showed an excellent correlation with calculated LV-mass (r = 0.91). Post-mortem LV-volumes correlated significantly with diastolic LV-diameters, LV-areas, and calculated LV-volumes (r = 0.56-0.59). Mean within-subject standard deviations in controls were 0.5-0.6 mm (LV-diameters), 3.1-4.6 mm(2) (LV-areas), approximately 10% of the mean for FS, area-EF and midwall shortening, and approximately 20% for wall thickness and LV-mass. The data might be used to choose the most sensitive parameters, and to estimate sample size for echocardiographic investigations in rats.
authors.affiliation: The Heart Institute, Good Samaritan Hospital, University of Southern California, 1225 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90017, USA.
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Reffelmann
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Kloner
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D004452:Echocardiography; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D009200:Myocardial Contraction; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left