We investigated the effect of intraluminal pressure or stretch on the development of tone in the descending thoracic aorta from rats with aortic coarctation-induced hypertension of 7-14 days duration. Increments of pressure >100 mmHg decreased the diameter of thoracic aortas from hypertensive but not from normotensive rats. The pressure-induced constriction was not demonstrable in vessels super...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Acute paraplegia must be investigated promptly to exclude reversible causes. In this report we illustrate the usefulness of transesophageal echocardiography in identifying the vascular etiologies of acute paraplegia. CASE DESCRIPTIONS Two patients presented with acute paraplegia, one spontaneously and the other after removal of an intra-aortic balloon pump catheter. Thr...

The hydraulic properties of the unexposed thoracic aorta were studied in five cats by angiography. Repeated measurements of pressure and diameter were obtained at various distances from the aortic root, and it became obvious that the unexposed aorta in cats was more than twice as distensible as the exposed aorta. Diameter of the aortic root, for example, varied by about 20% over a physiologic p...

Rabbits were rendered hypertensive by suprarenal coarctation of the abdominal aorta. Seven days later, endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent vascular relaxations were examined in vascular rings taken from hypertensive (thoracic aorta, carotid artery) and normotensive (abdominal aorta) regions. Relaxation of phenylephrine-contracted rings in response to endothelium-dependent agonists...

Background
 Trans-esophageal aortic blood flow occlusion (TEABO) is an emerging technology undergoing laboratory research that offers a strategy for temporary hemorrhage control. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the anatomical relationship between esophagus and descending thoracic aorta in two breeds swine support porcine model future TEABO investigations.
 Methods 
 Tho...