In this study, we present preliminary results detecting radiation therapy (RT) effects on cardiac function in pre-clinical models using high-field 9.4T MRI. Salt-sensitive (SS) and Brown-Norway (BN) rats were selectively bred to produce SS.BN3 consomic rats, which are genetically identical to SS rats except for chromosome 3 which is inherited from the BN rat. Adult female SS and SS.BN3 rats (both control and RT animals) were scanned to acquire cine and tagging images, from which different cardiovascular parameters were measured. The results show differences in heart mechanics and ventricular remodeling between the two rat strains in response to RT, despite maintained global cardiac function.
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