Ascending Aortic Constriction in Rats for Creation of Pressure Overload Cardiac Hypertrophy Model

We describe a stepwise procedure for creating pressure overload and left ventricular hypertrophy in Wistar rats by constriction of the ascending aorta using a small metallic clip. This model is extensively used for studying remodeling changes during cardiac hypertrophy and for identifying and evaluating strategies for regression of such changes.