Cine magnetic resonance imaging of myocardial ischemia and reperfusion in mice.

Studies of acute myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in genetically manipulated mice have been impeded by the technical challenges of instrumenting small animals ( 500 bpm). To address these problems, 4 C57BL/6 mice (28 to 30 g) were anesthetized with pentobarbital and intubated for surgical instrumentation of the major left coronary artery with pneumatically controlled balloon occluders. The distal end of the tubing from the balloon occluder was exteriorized at the back of the neck. One week later, each mouse was anesthetized with …