OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to develop a method for direct measurement of rat uterine
microvessels and to test their viability. STUDY DESIGN: In anesthetized female Sprague-
Dawley diestrus rats, one uterine horn was isolated from the body cavity with its nerve and
blood supply intact. A small fiberoptic probe inserted into the lumen of the uterus served as a
light source for transillumination of uterine vessels. Diameters of circumferential arterioles
were observed while increasing concentrations of vasoactive agonists were suffused over …