Visualizing the complex 3D geometry of the perfusion border zone in isolated rabbit heart

• Published in: Applied optics. Optical technology and biomedical optics Vol. 51; no. 14; p. 2713
• Main Authors: Smith, Rebecca M, Black, Adam J, Velamakanni, Saalini S, Akkin, Taner, Tolkacheva, Elena G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 10.05.2012
• Subjects: Animals; Arrhythmias, Cardiac - etiology; Arrhythmias, Cardiac - pathology; Arrhythmias, Cardiac - physiopathology; Electrophysiological Phenomena; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; In Vitro Techniques; Myocardial Infarction - complications; Myocardial Infarction - pathology; Myocardial Infarction - physiopathology; Myocardium - pathology; Optical Phenomena; Rabbits; Tomography, Optical Coherence - methods
• DOI: 10.1364/AO.51.002713

Myocardial infarction, caused by a major blockage of a coronary artery, creates a border zone (BZ) between perfused and nonperfused tissue, which is believed to be the origin of fatal cardiac arrhythmias. We used a combination of optical clearing and polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography to visualize a three-dimensional organization of the BZ in isolated rabbit hearts (n=5) at the microscopic level with a high spatial resolution. We found that the BZ has a complex three-dimensional structure with nonperfused areas penetrating into perfused tissue with finger-like projections. These "fingers" may play an important role in the initiation and maintenance of ventricular arrhythmias.