Fibrosis progression in a non-inflammatory small animal model of liver congestion

Objectives: Congestive heart failure ultimately leads to cardiac cirrhosis, a poorly understood hepatopathy which can be monitored by elevated liver stiffness (LS). We here study a small animal model of liver congestion to simulate congestive heart failure and to learn more about fibrosis progression and LS under conditions of increased central venous pressure. Methods: The caval vein was subphrenically clamped in male Wistar rats for 1 day, or 1, 4, 8 and 16 weeks. Altogether 70 animals were studied (clamps = 30, sham operated = 26, controls = 14). LS was measured invasively using the novel µFibroscan platform…