ANATOMICAL COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC STUDY OF THE HEART AND SOME MEDIASTINAL VESSELS OF THE RABBIT (OryctOlagus cuniculus)

DIMITROV, R., D. VLADOVA, K. STAMATOVA, D. KOSTOV and M. STEFANOV, 2012. Anatomical computed tomographic study of the heart and some mediastinal vessels of the rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 18: 784-788 The aim of the study is to utilize the computed tomography the anatomical study of the rabbit heart and some of its mediastinal vessels. We investigated seven sexually mature, healthy male white New Zealand rabbits, aged 12 months. The animals were anesthetized. The bodies of the thoracic vertebrae were used as bone markers when performing the imaging. At the level of the third and fourth thoracic segment were found only vascular structures. At the fifth thoracic vertebrae a partial heart silhouette was observed, and the complete one – at the seventh. At the third, fourth and fifth thoracic vertebrae an image of the ascending aorta was found, at the third and fourth one – aortic arch, at the fifth segment – the beginning of the descending aorta. The results confirm the thesis, that the rabbit is a suitable biological model for morphological and functional studies of the heart.