Direct visualization of blood flow through the interaortic foramen of the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, Crotalus adamanteus, using echocardiography and color doppler imaging

Abstract

The bases of the left and right aortae in snakes are joined by the interaortic foramen. Previous anatomical and physiological studies have raised the possibility of blood flow through this foramen playing an important role in the redistribution of blood throughout the body, particularly during periods of hemostatic stress. Echocardiography was employed to view the heart of unanesthetized specimens of the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, Crotalus adamanteus. The echocardiographic images, and particularly the color Doppler imaging, revealed that the patency of the interaortic foramen changes during the cardiac cycle, and that blood regularly flowed through the interaortic foramen between the two aortae.