Rat Heart Anatomical Photo Atlas
This atlas was created by Brian Martell, a second year medical student at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, during the summer of 2007 under the W.T. Gill Jr. Summer Research Fellowship. Much help and guidance was provided by Matthew Kay, Luther Swift, and Narine Sarvazyan. A special thanks to Jeff Vanarsdall for his assistance with publishing this website.
The hearts were prepared by the following procedure: 1) Sodium Pentobarbitol injection, 2) Rapid heart excision, 3) Langendorff perfusion with modified Tyrode solution, 4) Rubber injection into the aorta, and 5) Fixation with 10% formalin. All pictures are labeled on a bottom corner with their respective heart (the three hearts shown are labeled as A,B,C).
All images on this site are free for public use. Source credit to the author is appreciated.
Common Abbreviations: RA = Right Atrium, LA = Left Atrium, RV = Right Ventricle, LV = Left Ventricle, PT = Pulmonary Trunk, LCA = Left Coronary Artery, RCA = Right Coronary Artery, LAD = Left Anterior Descending Artery, PM = Papillary Muscle, CT = Chordae Tendineae, TC = Trabeculae Carnae.
Surface Views
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Atria Dissection
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LCA and LAD Dissection
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Ventricle Dissection
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Tissue Digestion
Two hearts were prepared by the previously described procedure but instead of being fixed in formalin, they were placed in a 2% pepsin solution (pH=3) overnight to digest the tissue away. The result was a rubberized cast of the inside of the left ventricle surrounded by the rubberized coronary vessels. By cutting away the rubber core that filled the left ventricle and suspending the vessels in water, only the original cardiac vascular tree remained. All pictures are labeled on a bottom corner with their respective heart (1 or 2).
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