Heart ventricles of the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius): new insights from sectional anatomy, 3D computed tomography, and morphometry

Alsafy, Mohamed A.M.; El-Gendy, Samir A.A.; Kamal, Basma M.; Rutland, Catrin S.; Abd-Elhafeez, Hanan H.; Soliman, Soha; ELKhamary, Ahmed N.; Nomir, Ahmed G.

Abstract

Dromedary camel heart morphology is a crucial research topic with clinical applications. The study aims to understand the dromedary camel anatomy, morphology, and architecture of the ventricular mass. Results: Sagittal and transverse gross sections were compared to sagittal, transverse, and 3D render volume reconstruction computed tomography (CT) scans. The subepicardial fat, which covered the heart base, the coronary groove (sulcus coronarius), the left longitudinal interventricular groove (sulcus interventricularis paraconalis), and the right longitudinal interventricular groove (sulcus interventricularis subsinuosus), had a relatively low density with a homogeneous appearance in the 3D render volume CT. The pericardium in the color cardiac window was identified better than the black and white window (ghost). Transverse and sagittal CT scans demonstrated the internal structures of the heart, including the right atrioventricular orifice (ostium atrioventriculare dextrum), right atrioventricular orifice (ostium atrioventriculare sinistrum), and aortic orifice (ostium aortae), chordae tendineae, the cusps of the valves (cuspis valvae), and the papillary muscles (musculi papillares). The papillary muscle (musculi papillares) was presented with a more moderate density than the rest of the heart, and the cusps of the valves (cuspis valvae) had a lower density. The ventricular wall (margo ventricularis) exhibited different densities: the outer part was hyperdense, while the inner part was hypodense. The thicknesses of the ventricular mural wall and the interventricular septum (septum atrioventriculare) were highest at the midpoint of the ventricular mass, and the lowest value was present toward the apical part. The coronary groove (sulcus coronarius) circumference measured 51.14 ± 0.72 cm, and the fat in the coronary groove (sulcus coronarius) (56 ± 6.55 cm2) represented 28.7% of the total cross-sectional area. Conclusion: The current study provided more information about ventricular mass measurements by gross and CT analysis on the heart, which provides a valuable guide for future cardiac CT investigations in camels in vivo.

Citation

Alsafy, M. A., El-Gendy, S. A., Kamal, B. M., Rutland, C. S., Abd-Elhafeez, H. H., Soliman, S., …Nomir, A. G. (2023). Heart ventricles of the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius): new insights from sectional anatomy, 3D computed tomography, and morphometry. BMC Zoology, 8, Article 12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40850-023-00173-w

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 1, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Aug 18, 2023
• Publication Date: Aug 18, 2023
• Deposit Date: Sep 4, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 4, 2023
• Journal: BMC Zoology
• Electronic ISSN: 2056-3132
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Article Number: 12
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40850-023-00173-w
• Keywords: Camel, Heart ventricles, Anatomy, Computed tomography
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/24570371
• Publisher URL: https://bmczool.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40850-023-00173-w
• PMID: 37596650
• Additional Information: Received: 8 March 2023; Accepted: 1 August 2023; First Online: 18 August 2023; : ; : This study was carried out with ethical permission from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Alexandria University, and approved by Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (ALEXU-IACUC) (Approval code: 013/2023/03/11/224) and the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham (No. 3524 211 209). All methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations by the Basel Declaration and the International Council for Laboratory Animal Science (ICLAS). The nomenclature was adapted to Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria [CitationRef removed].; : Not applicable.; : The authors declare no competing interests.