Progressive development of pulmonary hypertension leading to right ventricular hypertrophy assessed by echocardiography in rats.

The present study aimed to evaluate the development of pulmonary hypertension by serial echocardiography, including measurements of pulmonary artery (PA) flow velocities, and correlate echocardiographic indices with pathological findings in rats administered monocrotaline (MCT). MCT (60 mg/kg body weight) or physiologic saline was administered to a total of 9 male Wistar rats at the age of 4 weeks (MCT group: n = 4, control group: n = 5, respectively). Echocardiography was performed serially until the age of 8 weeks. The ratio of right ventricular (RV) outflow tract dimensions to aortic dimensions increased progressively in the MCT group and became significantly greater than that of the control group after the age of 6 weeks. Peak PA velocity (Peak V) in the MCT group was significantly less than that of the control group at the ages of 7 and 8 weeks. The ratio of acceleration time to ejection time (AT/ET) in PA flow waveforms declined progressively and was significantly less than that of the control group after the age of 6 weeks. The ratio of RV weight to body weight (RVW/BW) in the MCT group was significantly greater than that of the control group. Both AT/ET ratio and Peak V were significantly inversely correlated with RVW/BW ratio. Furthermore, these echocardiographic findings were also significantly inversely correlated with the mean cross-sectional RV myocyte area. In conclusion, the progressive development of pulmonary hypertension leading to RV hypertrophy can be evaluated appropriately by echocardiography including PA flow Doppler indices in rats.