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

The bases of the left and right aortae in snakes are joined by the interaor tic foremen. Previous anatomical and physiological studies have raised the possibility of blood Row through this foramen playing an important role in the redistribution of blood throughout the body, particularly during period s of hemostatic stress. Echocardiography was employed to view the heart of unanesthetized specimens of the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, Crotalus a damanteus. The echocardiographic images, and particularly the color Doppler imaging, revealed that the patency of the interaortic foramen changes duri ng the cardiac cycle, and that blood regularly flowed through the interaort ic foramen between the two aortae. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.