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Abstract
Recent research in arterial aneurysm formation has focused on animal model development.
Mice are an ideal experimental organism due to their short life cycle, prolific progeny,
and extensively studied genome. Most experiments require the sacrifice of the mice
to observe and assess any morphological changes. Noninvasive or minimally invasive
imaging is limited due to the relatively small size of the structures. The development
of such a technique, therefore, is especially useful for allowing repeated measurement
without sacrificing the mice. We introduce a novel technique of imaging and measuring
the aorta, the aorta/inferior vena cava complex, and the right and the left common
iliac artery/vein complex by the use of an intravascular ultrasound catheter. The
catheter is inserted through the anus and rectum and into the sigmoid and left colon,
where the aorta can be observed to fluctuate at approximately 500 beats/min. The aortic
bifurcation can also be observed. The diameters of the aorta and the inferior vena
cava were measured first with the transrectal ultrasound technique and then with direct
visualization upon laparotomy for 10 mice. This revealed a percentage error between
13.7 and 14.2% for this novel technique. Fifteen more sets of vessel measurements
were also made with 8 male and 7 female mice. The results demonstrated a correlation
between vessel size and body weight in male but not female mice and suggested an intersex
difference in vessel growth rate. We conclude that transrectal ultrasound is a useful
tool in imaging and measuring the murine aorta and its bifurcation.
Keywords
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© 2000 Academic Press. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
