Endovascular canine anastomotic stenting.

The healing characteristics and morphological features of a trans-anastomotic endovascular multifilament flexible metallic stent (Wallstent, Schneider) were investigated in a canine end-to-end arterial model. Both femoral arteries of 12 conditioned mongrel dogs were exposed, then transversely divided and reanastomosed. One anastomosis was randomly chosen for stent placement. Stents were chosen to match the diameter of the femoral arteries and were 25 mm in unconstrained length. Animals were sacrificed at intervals of 3, 6, 9, and 12 weeks. The anastomotic segments were pressure perfusion fixed and sectioned. The cross-sectional luminal, intimal, and medial areas were calculated from computer digitized images of the individual sections. Data were analyzed by univariate repeated measures analysis of variance. Stented anastomoses had an increased luminal area as compared with the anastomosis of non stented sections (P < 0.002). However, stended segments had a significantly increased intimal area when compared to control segments in the same animal (P < 0.001). Stented anastomoses had a significantly increased lumen area over controls despite a marked intimal response to the stent.