Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41258478›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

A highly effective, rodent model of complete heart block by epicardial radiofrequency ablation.

Alexander N Weltz, Lea Fortuno-Miranda, Aravindan Kolandaivelu, Jinqi Fan, Rafael J Ramirez, Hee Cheol Cho

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Alexander N WeltzThe Blalock-Taussig-Thomas Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center, The Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.
Lea Fortuno-MirandaThe Blalock-Taussig-Thomas Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center, The Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.
Aravindan KolandaiveluDivision of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.
Jinqi FanThe Blalock-Taussig-Thomas Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center, The Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.
Rafael J RamirezThe Blalock-Taussig-Thomas Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center, The Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.
Hee Cheol ChoThe Blalock-Taussig-Thomas Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center, The Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA. hcho21@jh.edu.

Funding

Self organization of the sinoatrial nodeR01HL147270 · NHLBI · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI CHO, HEE CHEOL · 2020 to 2023
$2.0M
Heart rate control with bioengineered pacemakersR01HL157363 · NHLBI · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI CHO, HEE CHEOL · 2021 to 2024
$1.7M
mRNA biological pacemakerR01HL176951 · NHLBI · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI Hee Cheol Cho · 2025 to 2026
$1.4M
NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL147270NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL157363NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL176951NIH HHS 1R01HL1430651A1U.S. Department of Defense W81XWH2010643
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Complete atrioventricular block (CAVB) is a largely intractable disease that leads to severe bradyarrhythmia. The only treatment is the implantation of a pacemaker device. Left untreated, CAVB patients experience QT prolongation and ventricular overload, increasing susceptibility to cardiac remodeling and heart failure, as well as potentially lethal tachyarrhythmias. Animal models of CAVB offer a direct avenue to investigate the disease and potential disease-modifying therapies. However, existing models have limitations due to phenotype instability and high attrition rate. We aimed to create an improved method for disease model creation and report beating rate and variability analysis of the model. We report a modified surgical model of CAVB in rats by adapting a clinical radiofrequency energy generator to ablate the atrioventricular node region of the rat heart. Compared to previous ablation methods that utilize sharp needle entry into the AV node (AVN) region, the modified method resulted in a significantly higher success rate with a lower attrition rate. The rat model of CAVB showed stable conduction block for at least four weeks after model creation, supporting their suitability as a preclinical model of severe bradyarrhythmia due to AV conduction block. Models showed severe beat-to-beat variability with decreased overall autonomic innervation. We present a rodent model of a complete and stable AV block, which enhances the rigor and reproducibility of the disease model and downstream applications.

Indexed as

Atrioventricular BlockCatheter AblationPericardiumRadiofrequency AblationAnimalsAtrioventricular NodeDisease Models, AnimalHeart RateMaleRatsAnimal modelArrhythmiaComplete heart blockDisease modelRodent

Identifiers

PMID41258478
PMCPMC12630668

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.