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Figure 2 Myocardial infarction (MI) in mice. (A) Evolution of representative serial sections of the hearts. Mice without extensive MI involving all of the free wall and apex of the left ventricular (LV) were excluded from the analysis. Note the remarkable dilation of the LV cavity and hypertrophy of the noninfarcted myocardium. Left ventricular dilation and hypertrophy were observed as early as four weeks after the operation. (B) The transthoracic echocardiography study. Note the marked increase in LV end-diastolic dimension, as compared with that in the sham-operated mice. (C) Collagen staining. Note the scar formation in the infarct-related area and the abundant collagen deposition in the interstitial space 12 weeks after coronary ligation, as compared with that in the sham-operated mice (magnification x200).