ABSTRACT
Subendothelial heart valve angiectasis has been reported in cows, dogs, pigs, rats, mice, and in human fetuses and newborns. We observed a high incidence (62 in 208 animals examined) of spontaneous angiectasis on the atrioventricular (AV) valves in 10- to 40-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats. The angiectasis was observed predominately on the septal cusp of the right AV valve and located near the AV ostium in 57 of 62 animals. Of the remaining 5 valvular angiectases, 2 were present on the parietal cusp of the right AV valve and 3 were on the left AV valve. The angiectases were single or multiple, ranging from 40 to 300 microm in diameter and were characterized by light microscopy as blood-filled dilatations lined by endothelium. Spontaneously occurring abnormalities in normal laboratory animals, such as the spontaneous valvular angiectasis reported here, need to be differentiated from drug-related lesions.
Subject(s)
Heart Valve Diseases/veterinary , Rodent Diseases/pathology , Vascular Diseases/veterinary , Animals , Female , Heart Valve Diseases/pathology , Male , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Vascular Diseases/pathologyABSTRACT
A simple method was used to prepare cryostat-cut sections in which quinacrine-induced fluorescence could be seen by fluorescence microscopy. Such sections were used in preliminary studies of the distribution of this drug in mice. Micro-fluorimetry was used to quantify the fluorescence. The method may be of value in the detection of drugs in various fields.
