Cardiovascular malformations experimentally induced in the rat.

Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with glycerol formal during days 6-15 of gestation. 76 to 193 fetuses of these rats examined for visceral malformations showed abnormalities of the heart and great vessels. The principal cardiac malformation was ventricular septum defect associated in 40% of the cases with anomalies of the aortic arch: double aortic arch, right aortic arch and coarctation of the aorta. An attempt was made to explain the specific cardiovascular defects.