Serial Assessment of Hyperintense Post-Infarct Myocardial Edema in Mice by T2-Weighted MRI

Ronald J. Beyers¹, R. Scott Smith¹, Yaqin Xu¹, Brent A. French¹, Frederick H. Epstein¹

Following myocardial infarction (MI), a need exists to differentiate the acute MI from surrounding salvaged area (SA) that together defines the area at risk (AAR). T2w cardiac MRI (T2w CMR) quantifies edema that delineates the AAR, while late gadolinium-enhanced (LGE) CMR quantifies the MI. Past T2w CMR studies have focused on larger mammals, but not mice. Using mice is now common in cardiovascular studies, including the MI model. Here, we applied T2w CMR in post-MI mice to quantify the AAR, along with LGE CMR to quantify MI, to track the AAR, MI, and SA size relationships for 33 days.