ABSTRACT
Extensive research and the use of new therapeutic techniques have largely contributed to the decline in cardiovascular disease related deaths. Laboratory animals have been the primary models for investigating cardiovasuclar disease, and this research has largely shifted to mice. This chapter provides a brief description of the essential equipment, techniques, and common surgical mouse models used in physiologic cardiovascular evaluations in vivo. The condition of acute myocardial infarction in patients has been modeled in mice by ligation of the left coronary artery. Aortic constriction is an important tool for examining the response of genetically altered mice to a physiologic stress. The chapter demonstrates that traditional hemodynamic and echocardiographic techniques applied to mice can categorize diastolic dysfunction independent of alterations in systolic function. Accurate in-vivo evaluation of cardiovascular physiology in mice requires close attention to several procedural details. Choosing appropriate anesthesia regimens to evaluate cardiovascular parameters is a crucial challenge to investigators.
