HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Buy All Versions of this Article: 297/2/H750    most recent 01136.2008v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Choy, J. S. Articles by Kassab, G. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Choy, J. S. Articles by Kassab, G. S.

Wall thickness of coronary vessels varies transmurally in the LV but not the RV: implications for local stress distribution

Department of Biomedical Engineering, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, Indiana

Submitted 28 October 2008 ; accepted in final form 22 May 2009

Since the right and left ventricles (RV and LV) function under different loading conditions, it is not surprising that they differ in their mechanics (intramyocardial pressure), structure, and metabolism; such differences may also contribute to differences in the coronary vessel wall. Our hypothesis is that intima-media thickness (IMT), IMT-to-radius (IMT-to-R) ratio, and vessel wall stress vary transmurally in the LV, much more than in the RV. Five normal Yorkshire swine were used in this study. The major coronary arteries were cannulated through the aorta and perfusion fixed with 6.25% glutaraldehyde and casted with a catalyzed silicone-elastomer solution. Arterial and venous vessels were obtained from different transmural locations of the RV and LV, processed for histological analysis, and measured with an imaging software. A larger transmural gradient was found for IMT, IMT-to-R ratio, and diastolic circumferential stress in vessels from the LV than the nearly zero transmural slope in the RV. The IMT of arterial vessels in the LV showed a slope of 0.7 ± 0.5 compared with 0.3 ± 0.3 of arterial vessels in the RV (P 0.05). The slope for venous vessels in the LV was 0.14 ± 0.14 vs. 0.06 ± 0.05 in the RV. The present data reflect the local structure-function relation, where the significant gradient in intramyocardial pressure in the LV is associated with a significant gradient of IMT and IMT-to-R ratio, unlike the RV. This has important implications for local adaptation of transmural loading on the vessel wall and vascular remodeling when the loading is perturbed in cardiac hypertrophy or heart failure.

coronary arteries; coronary veins; wall morphometry; wall stress; order number