This recent article by Platt, et al. uses pulsed-wave Doppler measurement of pulmonary flow (PF) as an alternative method of cardiac output (CO) evaluation in a mouse model of myocardial infarction (MI).
Article Summary:
- Left Ventricular echocardiography remains to be a frequently used method for cardio output evaluation, due to its non-invasive and cost efficient nature.
- Although CO derived from M-mode and B-mode images works well for healthy mice, its accuracy decreases in certain diseased models, such as MI, where LV deformities occur.
- As an alternative, pulsed-wave Doppler flow at the pulmonary trunk was evaluated.
- CO measurements were taken from 3 echocardiography methods (M-mode, B-mode and PF) and compared with gold standard flow probe measurements, in two diseased models (TAC and MI).
- All 3 methods correlated well with flow probe values in healthy mice, but only PF derived CO showed strong correlation in mice with MI.
- PF measurements also showed strong intra- and inter-user agreement.
Conclusion: This study demonstrates that Doppler measurement of pulmonary flow may be a more robust method of CO evaluation than standard M- and B-mode measurements, especially when working with MI models. The utility of this method can be further evaluated in other cardiac disease models where LV deformation present.
Reference: Platt MJ, Huber JS, Brunt KR, Simpson JA, ‘Pulmonary Flow as an Improved Method for Determining Cardiac Output in Mice after Myocardial Infarction’. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2017; 30(6):612-623.