This study aimed to develop a pulmonary artery (PA) loading system for mimicking right ventricular (RV) afterload of monocrotaline-induced pulmonary hypertension rats (MCT-PH). In 10 normal rats, the PA impedance loading system altered PA pressure waveform for loading pathological PA impedance of MCT-PH. By activating the system, the difference between target and measured PA impedance modulus was decreased from 0.047±0.020 to 0.019±0.007 mmHg min/ml (P<0.001), phase was decreased from 0.085±0.028 to 0.043±0.012 radians (P<0.001). The developed system, which was able to impose pathological PA impedance, may offer a unique opportunity for quantitative analysis of RV performance in PH.
