Animal Model for Pericardium Patch Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysm: Step by Step

2.ObjectivesWe aimed to improve previously described methods for confection of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAA) in porcine animal models, reducing surgical procedure time and specimen mortality. MethodsA total of 18 swine underwent a surgical procedure in order to confect a TAAA. All anesthetic precautions were taken. All the procedures were carried out via laparotomy and retroperitoneal access. An autologous peritoneum patch was used to make the aneurysm in 2 animals, and a bovine pericardium patch in 16. All the animals were followed up post-operatively, and were re-approached after 4 weeks for analysis of the aneurysm sac. The models that did not die in the post-operative period were euthanized under institutional recommendations ResultsAll the animals underwent laparotomy with retroperitoneal access. Two were submitted to an autologous peritoneum patch and 16 to a bovine pericardium patch. Three models underwent single suprarenal clamping; while 15 underwent sequential clamping. There were no differences in surgical time (p 0.207) or total clamping time (p 0.276) between groups. There was a higher mortality rate after 4 weeks in models submitted to single clamping (100%) compared to sequential clamping (26.7%) (p 0.0017). ConclusionThe experimental model of a thoracoabdominal bovine pericardium aneurysm which uses a sequential clamping technique, provides a stable and reliable platform with consistent anatomy and patency for up to four weeks. This model can be extremely valuable for assessing new endovascular therapy options in living organisms