Bile resistance of coated transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt stents in a flow-model.
OBJECTIVE
We sought to test the bile resistance of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) stents with 3 different coatings.


METHODS
Three stents with different coating materials (monolayer polyethylene terephthalate [PETP], monolayer polytetrafluoroethylene [PTFE], and double layer [PTFE]) were tested in a flow model. After testing the sealing of the system with isotonic saline solution, fresh human bile was circulated. Constant pressure was 50 cm H2O. Bile resistance of the stent membranes was analyzed.


RESULTS
Two of the 3 stents proved completely resistant to water. Only the PETP stent was resistant to bile. The PTFE-coated stents were not bile resistant.


CONCLUSIONS
The bile resistance of coated TIPS stents and, thus, the dependency of TIPS shunt patency is called into question. The stent with the reported superior patency rates does not show experimental bile resistance.
Wittkugel
Oliver
O
Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, University of Hamburg, Germany. wittkuge@uke.uni-hamburg.de
Koops
Andreas
A
Habermann
Christian R
CR
Weiss
Florian
F
Adam
Gerhard
G
Krupski
Gerrit
G
D001646:Bile; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011093:Polyethylene Terephthalates; D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene; D019168:Portasystemic Shunt, Transjugular Intrahepatic / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015607:Stents
D011093:Polyethylene Terephthalates; D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene