A novel material to create pulmonary artery stenosis in a swine model

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of autologous pericardium applied to pulmonary artery banding in a swine model.Methods In a swine model,pulmonary artery stenosis was created by autologous pericardium which made the left pulmonary artery banded to 30％-40％ of its original diameter.Animals underwent right heart catheterization and angiography 4 weeks postoperatively,and balloon-expandable'stents were implanted through right ventricular outflow tract.The animals were sacrificed at 12th week following stenting and microscopic evaluation for histologic changes was made.Results Pulmonary artery banding was performed on 8 swines.The lumen diameter was decreased from (16.0 ± 0.4) mm to (6.4 ± 0.2 )mm ( P ＜ 0.01 ),while the gradient inereased from median (range) 0 mm Hg to 35 ( 18-52 )mm Hg (1 mm Hg =0.133 kPa,P ＜0.01 ) following banding.One month later,the models were all survived.Compared to the instant result after banding,there was no significant difference in the lumen diameter ( P ＞ 0.05) or the gradient (P ＞ 0.05),and there was no banding dislodged and also no animal with severe left pulmonary artery hypoplasia or atresia.Conclusion Autologous pericardium as a banding to create an experimental pulmonary artery stenosis model appears safe and effective. Key words: Autologous pericardium; Pulmonary artery stenosis