Vasospasm model of a rabbit common carotid artery for endovascular research.
OBJECTIVE
Endovascular treatments such as balloon angioplasty and injection of vasodilators play an important role in cerebral vasospasm refractory to first-line therapies. Experimental studies with intracranial arteries of animals have some limitations, however, because in most cases endovascular devices are too large and inflexible to catheterize these arteries. The purpose of this study was to document the natural course of a vasospasm model using a rabbit common carotid artery.


METHODS
The common carotid arteries of 24 New Zealand white rabbits were used. Autologous blood was placed around the isolated artery and kept in place with a silicone cuff. The time course of vasoconstriction after blood clot placement was examined with angiography and with histopathologic evaluation.


RESULTS
Angiographic vasoconstriction was prominent on day 2, less obvious on day 9, and absent on day 30. At histopathologic evaluation, folding of the endothelial surface, corrugation of the internal elastic lamina, and thickening of the arterial wall were observed in the group with blood clot placements around the artery on day 2 and were nearly absent on day 30.


CONCLUSIONS
This model may be used for the study of endovascular treatments of vasospasm.
Nakai
Kanji
K
Department of Radiology, University of Rochester Medical Center, NY, USA.
Numaguchi
Yuji
Y
Moritani
Toshio
T
D000818:Animals; D001769:Blood; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000473:pathology*; D002533:Cerebral Angiography; D008297:Male; D011817:Rabbits; D013997:Time Factors; D014661:Vasoconstriction / Q000502:physiology; D020301:Vasospasm, Intracranial / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy