title: Echocardiographic Approaches and Protocols for Comprehensive Phenotypic Characterization of Valvular Heart Disease in Mice.
abstract: The aim of this manuscript and accompanying video is to provide an overview of the methods and approaches used for imaging heart valve function in rodents, with detailed descriptions of the appropriate methods for anesthesia, the echocardiographic windows used, the imaging planes and probe orientations for image acquisition, the methods for data analysis, and the limitations of emerging technologies for the evaluation of cardiac and valvular function. Importantly, we also highlight several future areas of research in cardiac and heart valve imaging that may be leveraged to gain insights into the pathogenesis of valve disease in preclinical animal models. We propose that using a systematic approach to evaluating cardiac and heart valve function in mice can result in more robust and reproducible data, as well as facilitate the discovery of previously underappreciated phenotypes in genetically-altered and/or physiologically-stressed mice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic; verzosa.grace2@mayo.edu.
authors.forename: Grace
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Casaclang-Verzosa
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic.
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Enriquez-Sarano
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic.
authors.forename: Hector R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Villaraga
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic; Department of Physiology & Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic; Miller.Jordan@mayo.edu.
authors.forename: Jordan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006351:Heart Valves / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D023421:Models, Animal