Fig. 3.

Histological documentation of left ventricular free wall rupture in mice dying after myocardial infarction (MI). A–E: consecutive sections show the site of the intramural rupture track (arrowheads) in an animal dying of rupture 3 days after permanent coronary occlusion. Arrows show the borders of the ruptured area. F–J: systematic histological analysis of myocardial sections documents the absence of rupture in a representative mouse that died 3 days after coronary occlusion. Scale bar, 200 μm.