Treatment of acute stanford type B aortic dissection with a novel cylindrical balloon catheter in dogs.

BACKGROUND Despite recent progress in medical and surgical treatment, acute type B aortic dissection still carries a high mortality rate. We have developed a novel cylindrical balloon catheter for less invasive treatment to block the entry of the dissection and induce thrombotic occlusion of the false lumen. The balloon has the shape of a sheet when deflated but a double-cylinder shape when inflated. Therefore, aortic blood flow is maintained through the cylindrical lumen during balloon inflation. METHODS AND RESULTS Six beagle dogs underwent a left thoracotomy at the 6th intercostal space. An acute dissection of 4-cm length was created surgically on the descending aorta. The balloon catheter was inserted through the distal descending aorta and advanced to the entry site. The balloon catheter was inflated for 6 hours. The blood flow in the descending aorta and the position of the balloon was monitored by color Doppler echovasculography. Four dogs were killed humanely on the following day and 2 dogs 10 days after the surgery. The descending aorta was examined macroscopically and microscopically in all dogs. In all dogs, the false lumen was occluded by thrombi. Although no dog had clinical evidence of distal thromboembolism, 2 of the 4 dogs that were killed on the second postoperative day had fresh mural thrombi in the true lumen. CONCLUSIONS The false lumen of the acute type B aortic dissection was effectively occluded by the novel cylindrical balloon catheter in the canine experimental model. The thrombus formation in the true lumen is the problem to be solved.