Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Mri) Characterization of the Functional and Morphological Changes in Heart and Lung After Myocardial Infarction in Mice

Hasan Alsaid¹, Weike Bao¹, Mary V. Rambo¹, Gregory A. Logan¹, David J. Figueroa¹, Stephen C. Lenhard¹, Charles J. Kotzer¹, Mark E. Burgert¹, Beat M. Jucker¹

In this study, MRI was used for the first time to non-invasively and serially assess cardiac dysfunction and lung congestion in a chronic heart failure model, myocardial infarction (MI), in mice. Cardiac and lung MRI were performed at baseline then every three days up to 13 days post-MI. MRI results revealed that MI induced significant pulmonary congestion/edema as detected by increased MRI signal intensity and was associated with increased lung volume and decreased cardiac function. Additionally, significant correlations were observed between lung signal intensity, lung volume, ejection fraction, left ventricular mass and lung wet weight/body weight ratio.