title: Cardiovascular remodeling after AVF surgery in rats assessed by a clinical MRI scanner.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate a cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique which allows the longitudinal analysis of cardiovascular remodeling in a rodent femoral arteriovenous fistula (AVF) model by means of a clinical scanner.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight rats underwent femoral AVF surgery and four rats served as controls. Vascular and cardiac morphology as well as cardiac function was assessed from Week 3 to 12 using contrast-enhanced, time-resolved magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and cardiac MRI (cine gradient-echo sequence) at 3 T in one imaging session.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Arteriovenous surgery resulted in progressive venous dilation and a subsequent cardiac adaptation. This procedure led to downstream vasodilation of the iliac vein and inferior vena cava of 179% and 188%, respectively (3 weeks). To accommodate the increased returning blood volume, cardiac output (CO) increased significantly (P=.014; 6 weeks). This was caused by increased end-diastolic volume (EDV), stroke volume (SV) and heart rate (HR) consistent with an increased volume load. A continuous increase in heart weight peaked at 12 weeks. This increase combined with a distinct end-diastolic left ventricular dilation implied eccentric hypertrophy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Small rodent MRI is feasible and clearly depicts fistula maturation and cardiac alterations. This technique proved to be a valuable tool for longitudinal in vivo monitoring in this model, which strongly resembles clinical findings in hemodialysis patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Aachen, Aachen 52074, Germany. slanger@ukaachen.de
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Langer
authors.forename: Niklas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Paulus
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Heiss
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Koeppel
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Greiner
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buhl
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lauer
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kokozidou
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.forename: Gabriele A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Krombach
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001166:Arteriovenous Shunt, Surgical; D005260:Female; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D020257:Ventricular Remodeling / Q000502:physiology*