title: Echocardiographic evaluation of cardiac function in ischemic rats: value of m-mode echocardiography.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Echocardiography is a well-established diagnostic tool for a safe, reproducible and accurate evaluation of cardiac anatomy, hemodynamics and function in clinical practice.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to demonstrate the efficacy and feasibility of M-mode echocardiography to evaluate cardiac structure and function in normal and MI-induced adult rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  All animal procedures were approved by the ethics committee of Tehran University of Medical Sciences and the investigation conformed to the "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals" published by the United States National Institutes of Health. Forty-eight male Wistar rats weighing 280-300 grams were obtained from a single breeding colony. The statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 20.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Echocardiographic measurements were possible in all rats before and after the operation. In our survey, we studied echocardiographic alterations in rats after MI induction. Changes can be seen in all echocardiographic mean values after myocardial infarction (MI), but significant decrease (P < 0.01) of Fractional shortening and Ejection Fraction as well as significant increase (P < 0.05) of end systolic diameter and systolic volume after left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) ligation can be good signs of MI induction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In light of our results, it can be concluded that we succeeded in establishing a precise echocardiographic method to confidently assess the success of LAD ligation surgery in rats. It is feasible to thoroughly monitor the functional efficiency of regional therapeutic interventions such as intra-myocardial stem cell injection.
authors.affiliation: Rajaie Cardiovascular, Medical and Research Centre, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Darbandi Azar
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tavakoli
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moladoust
authors.affiliation: Rajaie Cardiovascular, Medical and Research Centre, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Asghar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zare
authors.affiliation: Echocardiography Research Center, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sadeghpour
keywords: Echocardiography; M-mode Evaluation; Rat