Determination of Normal Mean Ejection Fraction Index by Echocardiography in Oryctolagus Cuniculus

Oryctolagus cuniculus are an excellent model for cardiovascular research because the size of these animals is more suitable for study and experimentation than smaller animals and are economical and cost-effective in research. One of the most important diagnostic imaging techniques is echocardiography, which is used today to perform anatomical and functional evaluation of the cardiovascular system and is one of the most accurate and sensitive non-invasive methods for examining heart diseases. Ventricular function indices could be assessed by cardiac imaging techniques. One of these important cardiac parameters is the ejection fraction, which has a valuable position along with other involved parameters. Ejection fraction is a measure of blood percentage that comes out of the heart with each contraction.

For this study, 100 six-month to one-year adult, standard and young Oryctolagus Cuniculus (in Iran) and in healthy   appearance of both sexes (50 female rabbits and 50 male rabbits) were studied without anesthesia and sedation.

In this study, the mean ejection fraction in the studied Oryctolagus cuniculus was 58.753±6.889 in male animals and 61.397±6.530 in females which indicates that the ejection fraction in the assessed male population was significantly higher than the female population.

The measured ejection fraction values were comparable to those mentioned in the authoritative books and there is no significant difference in the average size of ejection fraction measured in this study with the previous research.