Scientists working in the field of cardiovascular research will welcome Practical Methods in Cardiovascular Research as the reference they have long been waiting for. General aspects of cardiovascular research are presented as well as detailed descriptions of methods and protocols, and practical examples. Written by leading scientists in their field, chapters cover classical methods such as the Langendorff heart or working heart models as well as numerous new techniques and methods. Newcomers and experienced researchers alike will benefit from the troubleshooting guide in each chapter; the extensive reference lists for advanced reading and the great practical experience of the authors.

In-Vivo Techniques.- Anaesthesia (Inhalative or i.v. Narcosis) of Laboratory Animals.- Extracorporeal Circulation.- Open-chest Models of Acute Myocardial Ischemia and Reperfusion.- Models of Chronic Ischemia and Infarction.- Models on Left Ventricular Hypertrophy (LVH).- Experimental Models of Heart Failure.- In-Vivo Models of Arrhythmias: a Canine Model of Sudden Cardiac Death.- In-Vivo Models of Atrial Fibrillation.- In-Vitro Techniques.- The Langendorff Heart.- The Working Heart.- Isolated Papillary Muscles.- Isolated Vessels.- Optical Techniques for the Recording of Action Potentials.- Recording Action Potentials Using Voltage-Sensitive Dyes.- Epicardial Mapping in Isolated Hearts - Use in Safety Pharmacology, Analysis of Torsade de Pointes Arrhythmia and Ischemia-Reperfusion-Related Arrhythmia.- Voltage-Clamp and Patch-Clamp Techniques.- L-Type Calcium Channel Recording.- Recording Cardiac Potassium Currents with the Whole-Cell Voltage Clamp Technique.- Recording the Pacemaker Current If.- Recording Gap Junction Currents.- Recording Monophasic Action Potentials.- Heart on a Chip - Extracellular Multielectrode Recordings from Cardiac Myocytes in Vitro.- Immunohistochemistry for Structural and Functional Analysis in Cardiovascular Research.- Classical Histological Staining Procedures in Cardiovascular Research.- Practical Use of in situ Hybridisation and RT in situ PCR in Cardiovascular Research.- Practical Use of Transmission Electron Microscopy for Analysis of Structures and Molecules in Cardiovascular Research.- DAF Technique for Real-Time NO Imaging in the Human Myocardium.- Isolation and Culture of Adult Ventricular Cardiomyocytes.- Culture of Neonatal Cardiomyocytes.- Culture of Embryoid Bodies.- Culturing and Differentiation of Embryonic and Adult Stem Cells for Heart Research and Transplantation Therapy.- Preparation of Endothelial Cells from Microand Macrovascular Origin.- In Vitro Cultivation of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells.- Engineering Heart Tissue for In Vitro and In Vivo Studies.- High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).- Protein Biochemistry.- Receptor and Binding Studies.- Recording and Analysing Concentration-Response Curves.- Measurement of NO and Endothelial Function in Cardiovascular Research.- Biomechanical Stimulation of Vascular Cells In Vitro.- Measurement of Function and Regulation of Adrenergic Receptors.- Measurement of Function and Regulation of Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptors.- Cytometry in Cardiovascular Research.- Molecular Biology in Cardiovascular Research.- Real-Time PCR Analysis of Cardiac Samples.- Use of cDNA Arrays to Explore Gene Expression in Genetically Manipulated Mice and Cell Lines.- Using Antibody Arrays to Detect Protein-Protein Interactions.- Surface Plasmon Resonance as a Method to Study the Kinetics and Amplitude of Protein- Protein Binding.- How to Solve a Protein Structure by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance - The Connexin43 Carboxyl Terminal Domain.- Managing a Transgenic Mouse Colony: A Guide for the Novice.