The systemic arterial pattern of the guinea pig: The head, thorax, and thoracic limb

Abstract

The systemic arterial pattern of the guinea pig was studied to determine the arrangement of the major arterial trunks and their branches. Fifty-nine specimens were examined by dissection, angiography, and corrosion casting. The arterial arrangement was found to resemble a typical mammalian pattern, although some exceptions were noted. For example, the internal carotid arteries were small and of questionable significance in the cerebral blood supply. Instead, a major portion of the blood supply to the brain appeared to be provided by the internal ophthalmic arteries. In the thoracic region, large dorsal scapular arteries originated and were distributed in part to the large fat pad in the dorsal cervical region. Also, each vertebral artery arose as two separate rami that anastomosed a few millimeters from their origin. The arterial pattern of the thoracic limb presented no unusual features.Although the guinea pig is used in many phases of biomedical research, relatively little has been reported concerning its gross morphology in general and the arterial pattern in particular. Potter et al. ('58) mapped the general arterial and venous pattern using dissection as their investigative method. Froger's study ('66) included the head, thorax, and thoracic limb. His investigative techniques included dissection, angiography, and corrosion casting. A similar study by Favre ('67) was limited to the abdomen, pelvis, and pelvic limb. Dissection studies of the abdominal aorta and its branches have been reported recently by Perneczky ('69) and in a n earlier dissertation by Luther ('23). More specific investigations include a study of the arterial supply to the mandible by Boyd et al. ('67) using dissection and corrosion casting, and a dissection study of the spinal cord supply by Knox-Macaulay et al. ('60).This study was undertaken due to the scarcity of anatomical information regarding this important research animal and the frequent disagreement of existing references. MATERIALS AND METHODSTwenty-nine males and 30 females of the species Cavia porcellus averaging 800 gm in body weight were used. Eighteen specimens were examined by gross dissection, corrosion casts were made of 13, and 28 were used in angiographic studies.All of the animals were anesthetized by intraperitoneal administration of sodium pentobarbital (Diabutal).' They were heparinized and exsanguinated and the specimens for gross dissection were embalmed with approximately 200 cm3 of 10% formalin solution. They were subsequently injected intra-arterially with red latex solution.Corrosion casts were prepared by injecting exsanguinated animals with colored vinyl acetate s~l u t i o n .~ These specimens were then placed in plastic containers, covered with concentrated HC1, and placed in a fume hood for two days. Tissue debris was washed away under running tap water leaving vinyl casts for subsequent study.Specimens for angiography were prepared by injecting exsanguinated animals with a suspension made of equal volumes of water and barium sulfate (Micropaque...

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