Early Pulmonary Vascular Disease in Young Adults Born Preterm.

Premature birth affects 10% of live births in the United States and is associated with alveolar simplification and altered pulmonary microvascular development. However, little is known about the long-term impact prematurity has on the pulmonary vasculature. Determine the long-term effects of prematurity on right ventricular and pulmonary vascular hemodynamics.

Pulmonary arterial strain- and remodeling-induced stiffening are differentiated in a chronic model of pulmonary hypertension.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a debilitating vascular disease that leads to pulmonary artery (PA) stiffening, which is a predictor of patient mortality. During PH development, PA stiffening adversely affects right ventricular function. PA stiffening has been investigated through the arterial nonlinear elastic response during mechanical testing using a canine PH model.

Inducing valvular regurgitation in mice via thermal ablation of cardiac valves.

This study presents early data in the development of a novel mouse model of heart failure utilizing thermal ablation on cardiac valves to induce valvular regurgitation. Thermal ablation of the valve was achieved through the application of radiofrequency (RF) electrical current. The objective was to apply enough energy to induce valve stiffening and retraction, which was hypothesized to produce valve insufficiency and blood regurgitation in vivo.