PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - C R Partington
AU  - V B Graves
AU  - D A Rüfenacht
AU  - C M Strother
AU  - A H Rappe
AU  - J J Merland
AU  - A Laurent
TI  - Biocompatibility of 1-French polyethylene catheters used in interventional neuroradiology procedures: a study with rats and dogs.
DP  - 1990 Sep 01
TA  - American Journal of Neuroradiology
PG  - 881--885
VI  - 11
IP  - 5
4099  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/11/5/881.short
4100  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/11/5/881.full
SO  - Am. J. Neuroradiol.1990 Sep 01; 11
AB  - This study was designed to investigate the thrombogenicity, inflammatory response, and endothelial response to the presence of sterilized, 1-French polyethylene catheters implanted into the arterial system and subcutaneous tissues of 18 rats and two dogs. At time periods ranging from 1 week to 6 months, repeat angiography was done, the animals sacrificed, and the tissues containing the catheter removed for histologic study. In the subcutaneous tissues the catheter became encased in a very thin (less than 0.5 mm) coating of fibrous tissue with no evidence of inflammation. In large vessels, the catheter at all time periods appeared identical both angiographically and histologically to that at the time of implantation. In small to medium-sized vessels a slight increase in vessel size (25% increase in diameter of the rat iliac) was observed angiographically. On histologic evaluation, there was evidence of myointimal hypertrophy, which was asymmetrically placed, centered around the position of the catheter. There was no evidence of thrombi or of incorporation of the catheter itself into the hypertrophic tissue. In dogs and rats, an implanted 1-French polyethylene catheter is well tolerated: the animals showed no evidence of thrombotic, thromboembolic, or inflammatory complications. Myointimal hypertrophy was observed in small to medium-sized arteries, which is of unknown significance.