title: Echocardiographic predictors of ventricular remodeling after acute myocardial infarction in rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prediction of the ventricular remodeling process after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) may have important clinical implications.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To analyze echocardiographic variables predictors of remodeling in the infarction model in rats. MEHTODS: The animals underwent echocardiography in two moments, five days and three months after infarction (AMI group) or sham surgery (control group). Linear regression was used to identify the echocardiographic variables on the fifth day after the infarction, which were predictive of remodeling after three months of coronary occlusion. We considered as a criterion of remodeling in this study, the values of left ventricular diastolic diameter (LVDD) after three months of infarction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The infarction induced increase in the left chambers, associated with changes in systolic and diastolic functions. The variables body weight, left ventricular wall stress index (LVWSI), systolic area (SA), diastolic area (DA), LVDD, left ventricular systolic diameter (LVSD), area variation fraction (AVF), ejection fraction (EF), percent of endocardial shortening (%Short), posterior wall shortening velocity (PWSV) and infarct size assessed five days after infarction were predictors of LVDD after three months. At the multivariate regression analysis, we included the size of infarction, the LVWSI and PWSV. The LVWSI (coefficient: 4.402, standard error: 2.221, p = 0.05), but not the size of infarction and PWSV, was a predictor of remodeling after three months of infarction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  LVPSI was an independent predictor of remodeling three months after the myocardial infarction and could be included in the clinical stratification after the coronary occlusion.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Clínica Médica, Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu, Botucatu, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcos F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Minicucci
authors.forename: Paula S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Azevedo
authors.forename: Daniel F B
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Bertha F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Polegato
authors.forename: Priscila P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Katashi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okoshi
authors.forename: Sergio A R
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Paiva
authors.forename: Leonardo A M
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Zornoff
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013997:Time Factors; D014463:Ultrasonography; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D020257:Ventricular Remodeling / Q000502:physiology*