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Updated: May 9, 2026
Induction of Right Ventricular Failure by Pulmonary Artery Constriction and Evaluation of Right Ventricular Function in Mice
Published on: May 13, 2019
Cardiac dysfunction in pneumovirus-induced lung injury in mice
Reinout A Bem1, Elske van den Berg, Ernst Suidgeest
1Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Emma Children's Hospital AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. r.a.bem@amc.uva.nl
Objective:
To determine biventricular cardiac function in pneumovirus-induced acute lung injury in spontaneously breathing mice.
Design:
Experimental animal study.
Setting:
Animal laboratory.
Subjects:
C57Bl/6 mice.
Intervention:
Mice were inoculated with the rodent pneumovirus, pneumonia virus of mice.
Measurements And Main Results:
Pneumonia virus of mice-infected mice were studied for right and left ventricular function variables by high-field strength (7 Tesla) cardiac MRI at specific time points during the course of disease compared with baseline. One day before and at peak disease severity, pneumonia virus of mice-infected mice showed significant right and left ventricular systolic and diastolic volume changes, with a progressive decrease in stroke volume and ejection fraction. No evidence for viral myocarditis or viral presence in heart tissue was found.
Conclusions:
These findings show adverse pulmonary-cardiac interaction in pneumovirus-induced acute lung injury, unrelated to direct virus-mediated effects on the heart.
