Abstract
<h3>Purpose</h3> A major hindrance for cardiac regeneration after an ischemic insult and in progressive disease is poor perfusion of injured myocardium. Early 1940's Dr. Vineberg introduced a surgical procedure, in which a systemic artery is used to directly revascularize the coronary microcirculation providing totally new venues for blood flow. To our knowledge this procedure has been performed only in humans and large animals. Our goal was to develop a high output small animal model of Vineberg procedure and to determine, if the left internal thoracic artery (LITA) anastomoses with heart's microcirculation in a rat. <h3>Methods and Materials</h3> Rat (350-400g) heart was exposed through median sternotomy. LITA was extracted and tunnelled into left ventricular wall with (n=8) or without (n=12) an infarct generated by left anterior descending artery ligation. Vascularization was studied with fluorescence imaging of indocyanine green (ICG) 3-4 weeks post surgery. <h3>Results</h3> Approximately 60% of the implanted LITAs were confirmed to be clearly patent. The imaging revealed that the implanted patent LITA was able to provide circulation into the infarcted area. Figure shows implanted LITA with light microscopy (1A), patent LITA with ICG (1B), dark infarcted area (2). Histological examination of myocardial tissue proximal to patent LITA showed increased VonWillerbrant factor and number of nuclei determined by vWF and DAPI staining, respectively, compared to untouched myocardium. <h3>Conclusions</h3> This data indicate collateralization and successful anastomoses of LITA with coronary microcirculation in rat heart. This model provides new possibilities for research of angiogenic therapies in search for treatment methods for end-stage cardiac patients
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