Untangling the mechanisms of pulmonary arterial hypertension-induced right ventricular stiffening in a large animal model
Published in Acta Biomaterialia, 2023
Cite: Kakaletsis S, Malinowski M, Snider JC, Mathur M, Sugerman GP, Luci JJ, Kostelnik CJ, Jazwiec T, Bersi MR, Timek TA, Rausch MK. Untangling the mechanisms of pulmonary arterial hypertension-induced right ventricular stiffening in a large animal model. Acta Biomaterialia. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2023.09.043
In this study, we explored the microstructure, the macrostructure and the mechanics of the passive myocardium in disease. Particularly, we study an ovine animal model with induced pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) via partial occlusion of the pulmonary artery. We use this model to quantify the PAH-induced remodeling and stiffening of the myocardial wall, by analyzing hemodyanics data, the micro- and the macro-structure, along with multi-modal mechanical testing of the passive myocardium. Finally, we develop an interpretative finite element model of the myocardium, in order to delineate the different mechanisms of PAH-induced stiffening of the right ventricular myocardium.
