The pacing-induced cardiomyopathy animal model provides insights into the complex structural, functional, and haemodynamic mechanisms underlying the progression of congestive heart failure.
Time for primary review 29 days. Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a common clinical problem that confronts physicians and is often the final manifestation of many cardiovascular disorders. The diagnosis of CHF is accompanied by significant mortality and morbidity 1. The syndrome is characterized by a relentless progressive course that is often manifested as repeated hospital admissions imposing heavy economic burden on the health care delivery system 2,3. Therefore, basic research into the fundamental mechanisms accounting for the progression of CHF with the hope for developing novel therapeutic approaches to alter the progressive course has become a priority for many researchers. To facilitate these investigations, an animal model that closely mimics human CHF and also exhibits key components of what are now perceived to be important pathogenetic contributors to CHF progression is ideal. It is therefore the objective of this review to highlight how the model of pacing-induced cardiomyopathy has provided insights into the mechanisms of progression of CHF. Clinicians have traditionally viewed CHF as being predominantly a haemodynamic disorder. Accordingly, haemodynamic descriptors such as elevated cardiac filling pressures, pulmonary venous and arterial hypertension, reduced cardiac output, and elevated systemic and pulmonary vascular resistance were used to characterize patients with CHF. While the haemodynamic descriptors can account for some of the clinical manifestations of CHF, such as dyspnea, fatigue and fluid retention, they do not adequately address the invariably progressive nature of the condition. In recent years, it has become apparent that CHF is a syndrome associated with a complex array of perturbations at multiple levels starting from the subcellular to the whole organ level. These alterations include profound structural and functional changes, which may culminate in the death of myocytes as well as major disruption of the cardiac extracellular matrix 4. Both of these processes may … * Corresponding author.
Gordon W. Moe (Tue,) conducted a review in Congestive heart failure. Pacing-induced cardiomyopathy model was evaluated. The pacing-induced cardiomyopathy animal model provides insights into the complex structural, functional, and haemodynamic mechanisms underlying the progression of congestive heart failure.