title: A novel method of standardized myocardial infarction in aged rabbits.
abstract: The incidence of both myocardial infarction (MI) and sudden cardiac death increases with age. Here, we describe the development of a minimally invasive large animal model of MI that can be applied to young or aged animals. We demonstrate that rabbit coronary anatomy is highly variable, more so than described in previous literature. In this work, we categorize the coronary pattern of 37 young rabbits and 64 aged rabbits. Aged rabbits had a higher degree of branching from the left main coronary artery. Standardizing the model across age cohorts required a new approach, targeting an area of myocardium rather than a specific vessel. Here, we present a method for achieving a reproducible infarct size, one that yielded a consistent scar encompassing ~30% of the apical left ventricular free wall. The model's consistency allowed for more valid comparisons of MI sequelae between age cohorts.NEW & NOTEWORTHYThis study describes the coronary angiographic imaging of young and aged rabbits. We developed and improved a novel minimally invasive approach for coil embolization that targets a specific area of myocardium and yielded a consistent scar encompassing ~30% of the left ventricular free wall of young and aged rabbit hearts.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Division of Cardiology, Rhode Island Hospital, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Morrissey
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Division of Cardiology, Rhode Island Hospital, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island; gideon_koren@brown.edu.|Department of Molecular Biology, Cellular Biology and Biochemistry, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island; and.
authors.forename: Kevin R
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2791-5801
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Division of Cardiology, Rhode Island Hospital, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
authors.forename: Jean M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Daley
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Division of Cardiology, Rhode Island Hospital, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
authors.forename: Lorraine
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schofield
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Division of Cardiology, Rhode Island Hospital, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
authors.forename: Nilufer N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Turan
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Division of Cardiology, Rhode Island Hospital, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.|Department of Internal Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
authors.forename: Karuppiah
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Arunachalam
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Division of Cardiology, Rhode Island Hospital, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
authors.forename: J Dawn
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Abbott
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Division of Cardiology, Rhode Island Hospital, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island; gideon_koren@brown.edu.
authors.forename: Gideon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Koren
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D000818:Animals; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D011817:Rabbits; D012015:Reference Standards
keywords: aging; arrhythmia; coronary anatomy; coronary angiography; myocardial infarction; ventricular fibrillation