A closed-chest canine model for cross-sectional echocardiographic study

T. D. Franklin Jr, A. E. Weyman and K. M. Egenes Cross-sectional echocardiography has been limited in the intact dog due to the intervening lobes of the left lung. Previous echo studies of the canine heart have utilized implanted transducers, catheter-tip transducers, or opened-chest preparations. The pericardial cradle technique described in this paper provides an acoustical window for echo studies of the entire heart in the closed-chest dog that has several advantages over these prior preparations. The left lung was retained by attaching the pericardium to the thoracic wall in a simple prestudy operation. Cross-sectional real-time echocardiographic studies have been performed on 52 anesthetized animals that were prepared in this manner. The studies were video taped for frame-by-frame analysis.