HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 29/1/84    most recent 00305.2005v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Stoyanova, E. Articles by Cloutier, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Stoyanova, E. Articles by Cloutier, G.

Characterization of circulatory disorders in ß-thalassemic mice by noninvasive ultrasound biomicroscopy

¹ University of Montreal Hospital Research Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
² Clinical Research Institute of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

ß-Thalassemia is an inherited hematological disease caused by a decrease or absence of production of ß-globin that requires chronic therapeutic interventions. This condition leads to important arterial and venous thromboembolic events, transitory ischemic attacks, and microcirculatory obstructions, indicative of circulatory disturbances. To investigate the presence of microcirculatory disorders without the confounding effect of treatments, we used ß-thalassemic mice with typical clinical characteristics of human ß-thalassemia major. One impediment to the understanding of microcirculatory physiology, in particular for ß-thalassemic mice, has been the lack of an appropriate noninvasive imaging approach. We thus developed a novel noninvasive high-frequency ultrasound imaging method to evaluate murine vascular hemodynamic properties. In our ß-thalassemic mice, total peripheral vascular resistance was significantly increased (P < 0.01) compared with wildtype littermates, whereas mean blood pressure, heart rate, and cardiac output were similar (P = nonsignificant). Importantly, the vascular hemodynamics in ß-thalassemic mice were significantly affected according to the Pourcelot indexes measured in the common carotid artery and abdominal aorta (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively). Hence, our ß-thalassemia characterization of vascular hemodynamics by noninvasive ultrasonic approaches proves the existence and provides unique quantitative assessment of microcirculatory flow disturbances in those mice.

high-frequency ultrasonography; vascular resistance; blood flow; hemodynamics

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. B. Taori, R. S. Chaudhary, V. Attarde, S. Dhakate, V. Sheorain, P. Nimbalkar, and P. N. Wasnik Renal Doppler Indices in Sickle Cell Disease: Early Radiologic Predictors of Renovascular Changes Am. J. Roentgenol., July 1, 2008; 191(1): 239 - 242. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]