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Updated: May 21, 2026
Retrograde Perfusion and Filling of Mouse Coronary Vasculature as Preparation for Micro Computed Tomography Imaging
Published on: February 10, 2012
Cardiac micro-computed tomography imaging of the aging coronary vasculature
S Jeson Sangaralingham1, Erik L Ritman, Paul M McKie
1Cardiorenal Research Laboratory, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. sangaralingham.jeson@mayo.edu
Insights
Aging hearts show reduced intramyocardial vessels and increased epicardial vessels, linked to fibrosis and dysfunction. Cardiac micro-CT reveals these coronary circulation changes in aged Fischer rats.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular research
- Aging biology
- Medical imaging
Background:
- Coronary circulation alterations with aging impact left ventricular (LV) fibrosis and function.
- Age-associated changes in coronary vasculature are poorly understood due to limited high-resolution imaging.
- Cardiac micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) offers a novel approach to study these changes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To define the 3D coronary circulation in young and aged hearts using micro-CT.
- To investigate the relationship between coronary vasculature, LV fibrosis, and function in aging.
Main Methods:
- Cardiac micro-CT imaging was performed on young (2 months) and aged (20 months) Fischer rats (n=10 each).
- Echocardiography, blood pressure, and fibrosis analysis were conducted.
- Coronary vessel volumes were analyzed, indexed to LV mass and normalized to total vessel volume.
Main Results:
- Aged hearts had lower total and intramyocardial vessel volumes, but higher epicardial vessel volume when indexed to LV mass.
- Normalized intramyocardial vessel volume was significantly lower in aged hearts, while epicardial vessel volume was higher.
- Aged hearts exhibited significant LV fibrosis and mild LV dysfunction compared to young hearts.
Conclusions:
- Aging is associated with reduced normalized intramyocardial coronary vessel volume and increased epicardial vessel volume.
- These vascular changes correlate with increased LV fibrosis and mild LV dysfunction in aged hearts.
- Cardiac micro-CT is a valuable tool for characterizing age-related changes in coronary circulation.
Background:
Alterations at the level of the coronary circulation with aging may play an important role in the evolution of age-associated changes in left ventricular (LV) fibrosis and function. However these age-associated changes in the coronary vasculature remain poorly defined primarily due to the lack of high resolution imaging technologies. The current study was designed to utilize cardiac micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) technology as a novel imaging strategy, to define the 3-dimensional coronary circulation in the young and aged heart and its relationship to LV fibrosis and function.
Methods And Results:
Young (2 months old; n=10) and aged (20 months old; n=10) Fischer rats underwent cardiac micro-CT imaging as well as echocardiography, blood pressure, and fibrosis analysis. Importantly, when indexed to LV mass, which increased with age, the total and intramyocardial vessel volumes were lower, whereas the epicardial vessel volume, with and without indexing to LV mass, was significantly higher in the aged hearts compared with the young hearts. Moreover, the aged hearts had a significantly lower percentage of intramyocardial vessel volume and a significantly higher percentage of epicardial vessel volume, when normalized to the total vessel volume, compared with the young hearts. Further, the aged hearts had significant LV fibrosis and mild LV dysfunction compared with the young hearts.
Conclusions:
This micro-CT imaging study reports the reduction in normalized intramyocardial vessel volume within the aged heart, in association with increased epicardial vessel volume, in the setting of increased LV fibrosis, and mild LV dysfunction.
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