Continuous Quantitative Monitoring of Mural, Platelet-Dependent, Thrombus Kinetics in the Crushed Rat Femoral Vein

Summary

A new in vivo method to study the size and dynamics of a growing mural thrombus was set up in the rat femoral vein. The method uses a standardized crush injury to induce a thrombus, and a newly developed transilluminator combined with digital analysis of video recordings. Thrombi in this model formed rapidly, reaching a maximum size 391 ± 35 sec following injury, after which they degraded with a half-life of 197 ± 31 sec. Histological examination indicated that the thrombi consisted mainly of platelets. The quantitative nature of the transillumination technique was demonstrated by simultaneous measurement of the incorporation of ¹¹¹In labeled platelets into the thrombus. Thrombus formation, studied at 30 min interval in both femoral veins, showed satisfactory reproducibility overall and within a given animal

With this method we were able to induce a thrombus using a clinically relevant injury and to monitor continuously and reproducibly the kinetics of thrombus formation in a vessel of clinically and surgically relevant size

• References

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