title: A method for evaluating the murine pulmonary vasculature using micro-computed tomography.
abstract: Significant mortality and morbidity are associated with alterations in the pulmonary vasculature. While techniques have been described for quantitative morphometry of whole-lung arterial trees in larger animals, no methods have been described in mice. We report a method for the quantitative assessment of murine pulmonary arterial vasculature using high-resolution computed tomography scanning.
  
  
  
  Mice were harvested at 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 3 months of age. The pulmonary artery vascular tree was pressure perfused to maximal dilation with a radio-opaque casting material with viscosity and pressure set to prevent capillary transit and venous filling. The lungs were fixed and scanned on a specimen computed tomography scanner at 8-μm resolution, and the vessels were segmented. Vessels were grouped into categories based on lumen diameter and branch generation.
  
  
  
  Robust high-resolution segmentation was achieved, permitting detailed quantitation of pulmonary vascular morphometrics. As expected, postnatal lung development was associated with progressive increase in small-vessel number and arterial branching complexity.
  
  
  
  These methods for quantitative analysis of the pulmonary vasculature in postnatal and adult mice provide a useful tool for the evaluation of mouse models of disease that affect the pulmonary vasculature.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Scott M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Mansi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Clara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Yueh Z
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Faber
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Electronic address: sean_mclean@med.unc.edu.
authors.forename: Sean E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: McLean
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D023421:Models, Animal; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000254:growth & development*; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography
keywords: Computed tomography; Lung development; Pulmonary circulation