Comparison of in vivo micro-CT and histology vascular lumen profile.

<p>LCCA and RCCA lumen profiles evaluated by in vivo micro-CT and histology at postoperative days 7 (n = 4), 14 (n = 10) and 28 (n = 9) after LCCA ligation. (A) In vivo micro-CT evaluation of LCCA (left panel) and RCCA (middle panel) lumen area starting from the aortic arch (1) to the bifurcation (9). Average lumen areas evaluated by micro-CT (right panel). (B) Histological evaluation of LCCA (left panel) and RCCA (middle panel) lumen area profiles. Averages of carotid lumen areas evaluated by histology (right panel). (C) Comparison between mean lumen areas of LCCA and RCCA of each mouse evaluated by in vivo micro-CT and histology. Linear regression and correlation coefficient were calculated (C, left panel). Correlation of lumen areas of LCCA and RCCA of each mouse for each time point (C, middle panel). Bland-Altman plot depicting the degree of agreement between micro-CT and histology (C, right panel). Bars indicate the mean ± SEM. **, p<0.01; ***, p<0.001; LCCA left common carotid artery; RCCA right common carotid artery.