German Heart Institute Berlin

Contrast enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging allows comprehensive in vivo assessment of the heart in small animal models of cardiovascular disease. Here we detail the procedures to perform CMR imaging, reconstruction and analysis using Small Animal Lock-Locker Inversion Recovery (SALLI) in rats.

This study assessed a new methodology with a straightened model generated from the four-dimensional cardiac computed tomography sequence to obtain the desired measurements for valve sizing in the application of transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement.

This study demonstrates the feasibility and safety of developing an autologous pulmonary valve for implantation at the native pulmonary valve position by using a self-expandable Nitinol stent in an adult sheep model. This is a step toward developing transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement for patients with right ventricular outflow tract dysfunction.