Quantifying Structural and Functional Differences Between Normal and Fibrotic Ventricles

Khwaounjoo, Prashanna; LeGrice, Ian J.; Trew, Mark L.; Smaill, Bruce H.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-20309-6_6

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 23 publications

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“…This technique, in combination with a variety of image processing tools, has been used to study cardiomyocyte orientation in chicken embryos with altered mechanical load (29), in fetal rabbits (30) and in rats (31,32). In addition, CM has been extensively used to investigate the fibrous matrix/collagenous microstructure and lamellar structure in adult rats (28,32,33), as well as its agedependent remodeling in rat models of hypertension and its relationship with cardiac left ventricular function (34)(35)(36).…”

Section: Confocal Microscopy (Cm)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cardiac multi-scale investigation of the right and left ventricle ex vivo: a review

Dejea

Bonnin

Cook

et al. 2020

Cardiovasc Diagn Ther

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The heart is a complex multi-scale system composed of components integrated at the subcellular, cellular, tissue and organ levels. The myocytes, the contractile elements of the heart, form a complex threedimensional (3D) network which enables propagation of the electrical signal that triggers the contraction to efficiently pump blood towards the whole body. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), a major cause of mortality in developed countries, often lead to cardiovascular remodeling affecting cardiac structure and function at all scales, from myocytes and their surrounding collagen matrix to the 3D organization of the whole heart. As yet, there is no consensus as to how the myocytes are arranged and packed within their connective tissue matrix, nor how best to image them at multiple scales. Cardiovascular imaging is routinely used to investigate cardiac structure and function as well as for the evaluation of cardiac remodeling in CVDs. For a complete understanding of the relationship between structural remodeling and cardiac dysfunction in CVDs, multi-scale imaging approaches are necessary to achieve a detailed description of ventricular architecture along with cardiac function. In this context, ventricular architecture has been extensively studied using a wide variety of imaging techniques: ultrasound (US), optical coherence tomography (OCT), microscopy (confocal, episcopic, light sheet, polarized light), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and, more recently, synchrotron X-ray phase contrast imaging (SR X-PCI). Each of these techniques have their own set of strengths and weaknesses, relating to sample size, preparation, resolution, 2D/3D capabilities, use of contrast agents and possibility of performing together with in vivo studies. Therefore, the combination of different imaging techniques to investigate the same sample, thus taking advantage of the strengths of each method, could help us to extract the maximum information about ventricular architecture and function. In this review, we provide an overview of available and emerging cardiovascular imaging techniques for assessing myocardial architecture ex vivo and discuss their utility in being able to quantify cardiac remodeling, in CVDs, from myocyte to whole organ.

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