Assessment of coronary microcirculation alterations in a porcine model of no-reflow using ultrasound localization microscopy: a proof of concept study

Background Coronary microvascular obstruction also known as no-reflow phenomenon is a major issue during myocardial infarction that bears important prognostic implications. Alterations of the microvascular network remains however challenging to assess as there is no imaging modality in the clinics that can image directly the coronary microvascular vessels. Ultrasound Localization Microscopy (ULM) imaging was recently introduced to map microvascular flows at high spatial resolution (similar to 10 mu m). In this study, we developed an approach to image alterations of the microvascular coronary flow in ex vivo perfused swine hearts. Methods A porcine model of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion was used to obtain microvascular coronary alterations and no-reflow. Four female hearts with myocardial infarction in addition to 6 controls were explanted and placed immediately in a dedicated preservation and perfusion box manufactured for ultrasound imaging. Microbubbles (MB) were injected into the vasculature to perform Ultrasound Localization Microscopy (ULM) imaging and a linear ultrasound probe mounted on a motorized device was used to scan the heart on multiple slices. The coronary microvascular anatomy and flow velocity was reconstructed using dedicated ULM algorithms and analyzed quantitatively. Findings We were able to image the coronary microcirculation of ex vivo swine hearts at a resolution of tens of microns and measure flow velocities ranging from 10 mm/s in arterioles up to more than 200 mm/s in epicardial arteries. Under different aortic perfusion pressures, we measured in large arteries of a subset of control hearts an increase of flow velocity from 31 +/- 11 mm/s at 87 mmHg to 47 +/- 17 mm/s at 132 mmHg (N = 3 hearts, P < 0.05). This increase was compared with a control measurement with a flowmeter in the aorta. We also compared 6 control hearts to 4 hearts in which no-reflow was induced by the occlusion and reperfusion of a coronary artery. Using average MB velocity and average density of MB per unit of surface as two ULM quantitative markers of perfusion, we were able to detect areas of coronary no-reflow in good agreement with a control anatomical pathology analysis of the cardiac tissue. In the no-reflow zone, we measured an average perfusion of 204 +/- 305 MB/mm2 compared to 3182 +/- 1302 MB/mm(2) in the surrounding re-perfused area. Interpretation We demonstrated this approach can directly image and quantify coronary microvascular obstruction and no-reflow on large mammal perfused hearts. This is a first step for noninvasive, quantitative and affordable assessment of the coronary microcirculation function and particularly coronary microvascular anatomy in the infarcted heart. This approach has the potential to be extended to other clinical situations characterized by microvascular dysfunction.