Basic values of M-mode echocardiographic parameters of the left ventricle in outbreed Wistar rats

Abstract

This paper describes the partial results of an echocardiographic study in sixty outbreed Wistar rats. Animals of parity sex ratio were chosen for the experiment. The animals were grown up during the observation period (the minimum weight was 220 g; the maximum weight was 909 g) and were then sequentially anaesthetised (2–2.5% of isoflurane, 3 l/min O₂). The second, fourth and fifth examinations were performed under anaesthesia maintained by intramuscular injections with diazepam (2 mg/kg), xylazine (5 mg/kg) and ketamine (35 mg/kg). Transthoracal examination was done using the SonoSite Titan echo system (SonoSite Ltd.) with a microconvex transducer C11 (8–5 MHz). M-mode (according to the leading-edge method of American Society of Echocardiography) echocardiography data were acquired at the papillary muscle: systolic and diastolic interventricular septum (IVSs, d) and left vetricular posterior wall (LVPWs, d) thickness, systolic and diastolic left ventricular dimension (LVDs, d), aorta (Ao) and left atrium (LA) dimensions. According to standard formulas, the following parameters were obtained: ejection fraction (EF), cardiac output (CO), stroke volume (SV), left ventricle end systolic volume (LVESV), left ventricle end diastolic volume (LVEDV), interventricular septum fractional thickening (IVSFT), left ventricular dimension fraction shortening (LVDFS), and left ventricle posterior wall fraction thickening (LVPWFS). In our study we performed 300 examinations both in male and female Wistar rats of various body weights and calculated regression equations to predict expected normal echocardiographic parameters for rats with arbitrary weights. The rats were examined by an echo scan. The first and third examinations were performed during mono-anaesthesia induced by inhalation of isoflurane. Correlations, with one exception (LVDs), were very close, which means that the results of the calculations based on regression equations are very reliable.