The importance of pre-clinical animal testing in interventional cardiology

The treatment of cardiovascular disease has changed dramatically over the past 2 decades, allowing patients to live longer and better quality lives. The introduction of new therapies has contributed much to this success. Nowhere has this been more evident than in interventional cardiology, where percutaneous cardiovascular intervention has evolved in the past 2 decades from a quirky experimental procedure to a therapeutic cornerstone for patients with symptomatic cardiovascular disease. The development of these technologies from the earliest stages requires preclinical experiments using animal models. Once introduced into the clinical arena, an understanding of therapeutic mechanisms of these devices can be ascertained through comparisons of animal model research findings with clinical pathological specimens. This review provides an overview of the emerging role, results of preclinical studies and development, and evaluation of animal models for percutaneous cardiovascular intervention technologies for patients with symptomatic cardiovascular disease.