• Liukun Meng, Xiaoyan Liu, Zhe Zheng, Jun Li, Jian Meng, Yingjie Wei, and Shengshou Hu.
• State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China; Department of Surgery, National Center for Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital and Cardiovascular Institute, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
• J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg.. 2013 Nov 1;146(5):1220-1226.e1.

ObjectivesThe characteristic morphologic lesions observed in the lungs of patients with congenital cardiac anomalies have not been closely modeled in rat shunt-related models, except for the reversible grade 1 changes. The present study reported an original rat model of unilateral pulmonary hypertension surgically induced by combined surgery to reproduce more advanced pulmonary vascular lesions.MethodsThe right pulmonary artery was ligated through a right posterolateral thoracotomy, and a cervical shunt was established 1 week later. The immediate and chronic effects on the pulmonary hemodynamics were evaluated through right heart catheterization immediately after and at 8 and 12 weeks postoperatively. The morphologic changes in pulmonary vasculature were analyzed after staining with hematoxylin-eosin and modified Weigert's method. The right ventricular hypertrophy index was calculated and artery blood gas analysis performed.ResultsA pulmonary hypertensive status was successfully induced immediately after cervical surgery and progressively aggravated into a borderline state with disease course advancing. Pulmonary vasculopathy demonstrated a transition from reversibility (muscularization, intimal proliferation of grade 1-2) at 8 weeks to irreversibility (intimal fibrosis, entirely luminal occlusion, grade 3) at 12 weeks postoperatively. Conspicuous right ventricular hypertrophy and decreasing partial arterial pressure of oxygen were also observed.ConclusionsThe present shunt-related model successfully simulated a hypertensive status in pulmonary circulation and reproduced the characteristic transition of pulmonary vasculopathy from reversibility to irreversibility within a relatively short period. Thus, this model could offer an alternative with low mortality and high reproducibility for investigations on the underling mechanisms of shunt-related pulmonary hypertension.Copyright © 2013 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

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