We describe the isolation of cardiac extracellular matrix from C57Bl/6J control mice, tight-skin mice, and tight-skin mice treated with the IRF5 inhibitory peptide. We also describe the vasodilation studies on the isolated vessels from C57Bl/6J, tight-skin mice and tight-skin mice treated with the IRF5 inhibitory peptide.
We describe a protocol to measure vortex formation time, an index of left ventricular filling efficiency, using standard transesophageal echocardiography techniques in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. We apply this technique to analyze vortex formation time in several groups of patients with differing cardiac pathologies.