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Background: Echocardiography is used in humans to characterise the structure and function of the heart, yet is relatively uncommon in studies on the rat, the most commonly used model of human cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to show that echocardiography in rats provides useful information on cardiac changes occurring in thyroid dysfunction and can also be used to characterise cardiac abnormalities. Methods: Transthoracic echocardiography and Doppler techniques with high frequency, high frame rate imaging were used to define cardiac dimensions and function in 240 Wistar rats and cardiac abnormalities in Wistar and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Results: Echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular dimensions and function and aortic flows was technically feasible in almost all adult Wistar rats and SHR, including those with thyroid dysfunction and cardiac abnormalities. Pulsed-wave Doppler profiles of mitral inflows to estimate diastolic function were less reliably obtained. Conclusions: Echocardiography is a powerful technique for non-invasive and serial determination of cardiac structure and function in rat models of human cardiovascular disease.

Royal Hobart Hospital, Tasmania, Australia Introduction.Autologousplatelet gelhasbeenusedsuccessfully to heal diabetic and venous ulcers. No study has been done on wound healing in cardiac surgery. Our aim is to significantly reduce wound infection by application of platelet gel. Methods. A prospective study. Forty high infection risk patients were divided into equal control and gel groups. All had a mix of CAGS, valve surgery or a combination of both. 52mL of the patient’s blood was drawn pre-op, concentrated into a platelet gel using theMagellan device and was sprayed on sternum± conduit site in the gel group. All sternal wounds (n= 40) were followed including a mix of radial and vein harvest wounds giving a wound population of 71 (nw=71). Follow-up was to evaluate wound healing over a 90-day period. All patients had blood taken for procalcitonin pre-op and on days 2 and 6 post-op for early bacterial infection. Results.Total infection rate inpatientpopulation (n= 40) was 27.5%. Eleven patients had infected wounds, nine of 3. Olsen MA, Sundt TM, Lawton JS, Damino Jr RJ, HopkinsBroyles D, Lock-Buckley P, et al. Risk factors for leg harvest surgical site infections infections after coronary bypass graft surgery. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2003;126:992–9.