The practicalities of establishing a porcine isolated heart model

Pavey, Warren; Raisis, Anthea L.; Dunne, Ben; Laeken, Els Van; Jenkinson, Charles; Vincent, V.; Baird, Peter; Prince, Stuart; Ho, Kwok M.; Merry, Christopher; Gilfillan, Ian

doi:10.1177/0267659117746232

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…MRI of arrested or excised pig hearts is less established in the research community ( 109 ) but is an excellent instrument to understand the underlying concepts of image contrast, e.g., in diffusion tensor imaging of the heart ( 98 , 106 ) or blood vessels ( 110 ). It offers better access to the organ and measurements free of motion effects ( 49 ), although potential variations of quantitative tissue parameters may need consideration ( 56 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to immersion fixation, endocardial and epicardial tissue is exposed to the fixation process first, and thus that the degree of fixation and the amount of formalin present in these areas may vary although immersion was performed for at least seven days. Beating pig heart models are important for research on aspects where better access to the heart and direct control of its physiology are relevant factors, e.g., to better understand 4D flow patterns ( 115 ) or cardiac metabolism ( 98 , 109 , 115 , 116 ). Here, the large bore and the excellent image quality obtainable at a whole-body UHF-MRI system may be highly advantageous to obtain even better physiological data.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ultra-high field cardiac MRI in large animals and humans for translational cardiovascular research

Schreiber,

Lohr,

Baltes

et al. 2023

Front. Cardiovasc. Med.

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A key step in translational cardiovascular research is the use of large animal models to better understand normal and abnormal physiology, to test drugs or interventions, or to perform studies which would be considered unethical in human subjects. Ultrahigh field magnetic resonance imaging (UHF-MRI) at 7 T field strength is becoming increasingly available for imaging of the heart and, when compared to clinically established field strengths, promises better image quality and image information content, more precise functional analysis, potentially new image contrasts, and as all in-vivo imaging techniques, a reduction of the number of animals per study because of the possibility to scan every animal repeatedly. We present here a solution to the dual use problem of whole-body UHF-MRI systems, which are typically installed in clinical environments, to both UHF-MRI in large animals and humans. Moreover, we provide evidence that in such a research infrastructure UHF-MRI, and ideally combined with a standard small-bore UHF-MRI system, can contribute to a variety of spatial scales in translational cardiovascular research: from cardiac organoids, Zebra fish and rodent hearts to large animal models such as pigs and humans. We present pilot data from serial CINE, late gadolinium enhancement, and susceptibility weighted UHF-MRI in a myocardial infarction model over eight weeks. In 14 pigs which were delivered from a breeding facility in a national SARS-CoV-2 hotspot, we found no infection in the incoming pigs. Human scanning using CINE and phase contrast flow measurements provided good image quality of the left and right ventricle. Agreement of functional analysis between CINE and phase contrast MRI was excellent. MRI in arrested hearts or excised vascular tissue for MRI-based histologic imaging, structural imaging of myofiber and vascular smooth muscle cell architecture using high-resolution diffusion tensor imaging, and UHF-MRI for monitoring free radicals as a surrogate for MRI of reactive oxygen species in studies of oxidative stress are demonstrated. We conclude that UHF-MRI has the potential to become an important precision imaging modality in translational cardiovascular research.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultra-high field cardiac MRI in large animals and humans for translational cardiovascular research

Schreiber,

Lohr,

Baltes

et al. 2023

Front. Cardiovasc. Med.

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“…Three light sources were used to achieve homogeneous illumination. Both the Langendorff system and the protocol for performing optical mapping have been used and validated by other working groups ( Langendorff, 1895 ; Efimov et al, 2004 ; Herron et al, 2012 ; Boukens and Efimov, 2014 ; Pavey et al, 2018 ; Swift et al, 2019 ; O’Shea et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intrapericardial cardiosphere-derived cells hinder epicardial dense scar expansion and promote electrical homogeneity in a porcine post-infarction model

et al. 2022

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The arrhythmic substrate of ventricular tachycardias in many structural heart diseases is located in the epicardium, often resulting in poor outcomes with currently available therapies. Cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) have been shown to modify myocardial scarring. A total of 19 Large White pigs were infarcted by occlusion of the mid-left anterior descending coronary artery for 150 min. Baseline cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging with late gadolinium enhancement sequences was obtained 4 weeks post-infarction and pigs were randomized to a treatment group (intrapericardial administration of 300,000 allogeneic CDCs/kg), (n = 10) and to a control group (n = 9). A second CMR and high-density endocardial electroanatomical mapping were performed at 16 weeks post-infarction. After the electrophysiological study, pigs were sacrificed and epicardial optical mapping and histological studies of the heterogeneous tissue of the endocardial and epicardial scars were performed. In comparison with control conditions, intrapericardial CDCs reduced the growth of epicardial dense scar and epicardial electrical heterogeneity. The relative differences in conduction velocity and action potential duration between healthy myocardium and heterogeneous tissue were significantly smaller in the CDC-treated group than in the control group. The lower electrical heterogeneity coincides with heterogeneous tissue with less fibrosis, better cardiomyocyte viability, and a greater quantity and better polarity of connexin 43. At the endocardial level, no differences were detected between groups. Intrapericardial CDCs produce anatomical and functional changes in the epicardial arrhythmic substrate, which could have an anti-arrhythmic effect.

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