A Small Adjustable Renal Artery Clamp for Production of Chronic Hypertension in the Rat

Abstract

In connection with studies concerning the production of arteriosclerosis in the coronary arteries, the need arose for an adequate method to induce chronic hypertension in the rat. For this purpose, a small, adjustable silver clamp, modeled after the larger Goldblatt clamp(1), has been designed and applied to the renal arteries of the rat(2). The clamp first employed measured 2 mm in length, 1.5 mm in width, and 2 mm in height. That finally used and illustrated in Fig. 1 is considerably smaller and measures 1.7 mm in height, 1.65 mm in length, 1.5 mm in width, and weighs 24 mg. It is made of sheet silver, 0.25 mm thick (0.01”), and nickel wire (0.85 mm diameter). A strip is rough cut to size for the casing (A). The edges are rounded and shaped with a fine stone to exact size and formed with a carefully machined punch die. On the top, a hole is centered, drilled, and tapped for the screw (B). Slots are cut with a saw 0.25 mm from the ends for the removable plate (C). The screw is made of nickel wire which is threaded (6 threads/mm), and one end cut with a lathe and drilled to accommodate the moving plate (D).