The function of the right ventricle (RV) is closely linked to clinical outcome in many cardiovascular diseases. Experimental heart disease in rodents play an irreplaceable role in modern cardiovascular research, but no in vivo method exists offering robust measurements of RV myocardial function in small animals.
We used phase-contrast MRI to measure RV strain in rats. We found that RV strain and ejection fraction were closely related, and confirmed that high RV afterload is linked to reduced RV strain.
We show, for the first time, that it is possible to accurately measure myocardial function in the RV in rodents.
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