Why is it important to have clear diagnostic criteria to use when assessing cardiac rupture in the mouse model of permanent occlusion myocardial infarction? Listen as Deputy Editor Merry L. Lindsey (University of Nebraska Medical Center) interviews lead author Nikolaos Frangogiannis (Albert Einstein College of Medicine) and expert Kristine DeLeon-Pennell (Medical University of South Carolina) about the new study by Hanna et al which compared results from their in-depth histopathological examination with visual inspection of cardiac rupture. Frangogiannis and co-authors found that identifying the rupture site had high specificity but low sensitivity, with a low rate of false positives. Conversely, identifying hemothorax had high sensitivity yet low specificity. Hanna et al. observed key sex differences in their non-reperfusion mouse model of MI. In addition, differences in macrophages and fibroblasts in mice of both sexes which died of cardiac rupture indicated that a perturbed balance of inflammatory mediators may be a factor in the pathogenesis of cardiac rupture. What is the key take-away? When evaluating the cause of death in infarcted mice, look for the rupture site. Listen now.

Anis Hanna, Arti V Shinde, and Nikolaos G. Frangogiannis Validation of diagnostic criteria and histopathological characterization of cardiac rupture in the mouse model of non-reperfused myocardial infarction Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published October 15, 2020. DOI: doi.org/10.1152/ ajpheart.00318.2020