Baseline hemodynamic and echocardiographic indices in anesthetized calves

The experimental calf model is used to assess mechanical circulatory support devices and prosthetic heart valves. Baseline indices of cardiac function have been established for the normal awake calf but not for the anesthetized calf. Therefore, we gathered hemodynamic and echocardiographic data from 16 healthy anesthetized calves (mean age, 189.0 +/- 87.0 days; mean body weight, 106.9 +/- 32.3 kg) by cardiac catheterization and noninvasive echocardiography, respectively. Baseline hemodynamic data included heart rate (65 +/- 12 beats per minute), mean aortic pressure (113.5 +/- 17.4 mm Hg), left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (16.3 +/- 38.9 mm Hg), and mean pulmonary artery pressure (21.7 +/- 8.3 mm Hg). Baseline two-dimensional echocardiographic data included left ventricular systolic dimension (3.5 +/- 0.7 cm), left ventricular diastolic dimension (5.6 +/- 0.8 cm), end-systolic intraventricular septal thickness (1.7 +/- 0.2 cm), end-diastolic intraventricular septal thickness (1.2 +/- 0.2 cm), ejection fraction (63 +/- 10%), and fractional shortening (37 +/- 10%). Doppler echocardiography revealed a maximum aortic valve velocity of 0.9 +/- 0.5 m/s and a cardiac index of 3.7 +/- 1.1 L/minute/m2. The collected baseline data will be useful in assessing prosthetic heart valves, cardiac assist pumps, new cannulation techniques, and robotics applications in the anesthetized calf model and in developing calf models of various cardiovascular diseases.