Echocardiography and myocardial Doppler indices in the anesthetized calf : A closed and open chest study

• Aim: the aim of this study was to provide baseline central hemodynamic and echocardiographic values in an anaesthetized calf model before and after sternotomy, and to include tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) modalities so that they may be applied to future anaesthetized calf models in cardiovascular research. Method and results: twenty-one healthy anaesthetized calves were catheterized and invasively and echocardiographic monitored before and after sternotomy using a pulmonary artery catheter, left atrial and carotid artery catheters, and transthoracic or pericardial echocardiography. The following data were registered: heart rate, mean arterial pulmonary and systemic pressures, central venous pressure and saturation, cardiac output, left and right ventricular dimensions and their myocardial regional basal peak velocity and strain rate during systole, early diastolic and atrial filling and systolic peak strain and systolic displacement. After sternotomy, the heart rate, systemic arterial pressure and left ventricular size increased, but other cardiovascular parameters, including echocardiographic myocardial velocities, strain and displacement did not change. Conclusion: transthoracic and pericardial echocardiography including TDI, is feasible and applicable to the anaesthetized calf model. The normal ranges for baseline hemodynamic and echocardiographic variables derived from this study demonstrate that, as in humans, sternotomy influences basic hemodynamic variables such as heart rate, blood pressure and heart volumes but does not significantly affect TDI. The data collected may be useful in the future development of cardiovascular research using the anaesthetized calf model.

Keyword

Echocardiography; Animals; Echocardiography

Doppler; Heart; Haemodynamics

NATURAL SCIENCES

NATURVETENSKAP

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

ovr (subject category)