The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and feasibility of local delivery of
paclitaxel to inhibit pseudointimal
hyperplasia/intimal
hyperplasia in swine transjugular intrahepatic
portosystemic shunt (
TIPS) models
TIPS were created in seven healthy domestic swine (15-20 kg). Before
TIPS stent insertion, we performed a short-term infusion of
paclitaxel (treatment group: n = 4) and saline (control group: n = 3) into the
TIPS tract using a balloon
catheter in which two 0.010 inch holes were created on opposite sides of the balloon.
Paclitaxel or saline was given to all animals via the hepatic parenchymal and venous outflow tract. The animals were followed for up to two weeks and then killed. Gross and histological evaluations of the shunts were performed, and the maximum pseudointimal/intimal
hyperplasia thicknesses were calculated for each animal The average infusion time of
paclitaxel or saline was 7.6 min (6-9 min). At gross and histological evaluation, considerable pseudointimal
hyperplasia had formed in the control group and statistically significant differences were found upon microscopic evaluation in the maximum pseudointimal
hyperplasia thickness between the control (2.41 mm, range 1.7-3.16 mm) and animals receiving
paclitaxel (0.63 mm, range 0.42-0.98 mm, p<0.05) Local delivery of
paclitaxel at the time of
TIPS creation may have been effective in reducing pseudointimal/intimal
hyperplasia in swine
TIPS models.