title: Incidence of heart failure in infarcted rats that die spontaneously.
abstract: The present study reports for the first time the incidence of congestive heart failure (CHF) in previously infarcted rats that died spontaneously. Previously, pulmonary (PWC) and hepatic (HWC) water contents were determined in normal rats: 14 control animals were evaluated immediately after sacrifice, 8 placed in a refrigerator for 24 h, and 10 left at room temperature for 24 h. In the infarcted group, 9 rats died before (acute) and 28 died 48 h after (chronic) myocardial infarction. Thirteen chronic animals were submitted only to autopsy (N = 13), whereas PWC and HWC were also determined in the others (N = 15). Seven rats survived 48 h and died during anesthesia. Notably, PWC differed in normal rats: ambient (75.7 +/- 1.3%) < control (77.5 +/- 0.7%) < refrigerator (79.1 +/- 1.4%) and there were no differences with respect to HWC. No clinical signs of CHF (dyspnea, lethargy or foot edema) were observed in infarcted rats before death. PWC was elevated in all chronic and anesthetized rats. HWC was increased in 48% of chronic and in all anesthetized rats. Our data showed that PWC needs to be evaluated before 24 h post mortem and that CHF is the rule in chronic infarcted rats suffering natural death. The congestive syndrome cannot be diagnosed correctly in rats by clinical signs alone, as previously proposed.
authors.affiliation: Divisão de Fisiologia Cardiovascular, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Estado de Israel 181/94, 04022-000 São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: R L G
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Flumignan
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Kanashiro
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Saraiva
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Portes
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Antonio
authors.forename: M M S
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Ishigai
authors.forename: P J F
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Tucci
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001834:Body Water; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D015994:Incidence; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013997:Time Factors