Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine (Dec 2022)

Echocardiography protocol: A tool for infrequently used parameters in mice

  • Emily Ann Todd,
  • Monique Williams,
  • Monique Williams,
  • Ali Kamiar,
  • Ali Kamiar,
  • Monica Anne Rasmussen,
  • Lina A. Shehadeh,
  • Lina A. Shehadeh

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2022.1038385
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

Read online

Echocardiography is frequently used to evaluate cardiac function in rodent models of cardiovascular disease. Whereas methods to acquire the commonly used echocardiography parameters are well-described in published protocols or manuals, many important parameters are ill-defined and often open to subjective interpretation. Such lack of uniformity has engendered conflicting interpretations of the same parameters in published literature. In particular, parameters such as mitral regurgitation, mitral stenosis, pulmonary regurgitation, and aortic regurgitation that are required to define more esoteric etiologies in rarer mouse models often remain equivocal. The aim of this methods paper is to provide a practical guide to the acquisition and interpretation of infrequently used echocardiography parameters and set a framework for comprehensive analyses of right ventricle (RV), pulmonary artery (PA) pulmonary valve (PV), left atrium (LA), mitral valve (MV), and aortic valve (AoV) structure and function.

Keywords