CHARACTERIZATION OF MYOCARDIAL INJURY BY SECTOR-SCAN IN ACUTE EXPERIMENTAL LIGATION OF CORONARY VEIN

Abstract

Pathoanatomic disorders of venous occlusion were well documented in certain human organs. In order to investigate if coronary vein occlusion may alter myocardial structure or contractility, we experimentally ligated the coronary sinus in seven anesthetized, open-chest goat preparations. Left ventricular wall motion and wall thickness was recorded by two-dimensional echocardiography on each goat before and within two hours after the coronary vein ligations. All seven goats had normal left ventricular contractility and left ventricular wall thickness at control state. Within two hours of acute ligation of the coronary sinus, six of seven (86%) goats developed akinesis, and one of seven (14%) goats had severe hypokinesis (p < .001). Abnormal wall motion was most severe in the anterior and anterolateral segments (p < .001), and inferior septum or inferobasal segments were least affected by the coronary vein occlusion. The mean wall thickness at baseline was 9.7±0.7 mm, increasing to 17.7±2.7 mm after coronary sinus ligation (p< .001). The mean increase in wall thickness was 82%. These experimental data indicate that coronary vein obstruction with patent coronary artery can induce severe structural and functional damage to the left ventricular myocardium. Furthermore, two-dimensional echocardiography not only can detect the abnormal wall motion, but also the intra-myocardial edema during the acute phase of coronary vein occlusion in the experimental animal model.