Radiology, Vol 186, 873-876, Copyright © 1993 by Radiological Society of North America
Effects of intrathrombic administration of prostaglandin E1 during pulse-spray thrombolysis with tissue-type plasminogen activator in experimental thrombosis
K Valji and JJ Bookstein
Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego 92103.
The effects of intrathrombic and intravenous injection of prostaglandin E1
(PGE1) during pulse-spray thrombolysis were studied in a rabbit model.
Thrombi were produced in the inferior vena cava of 46 rabbits by means of
vessel wall injury and placement of steel coils. At 2 days, pulse-spray
thrombolysis was performed by using a catheter with multiple side holes
spanning the clot. A control group received injections of saline. In all
other rabbits, 3 mg of tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) was injected
into the thrombus over 1 hour, and 500 U of heparin was intravenously
administered. PGE1 was administered either intravenously (50 micrograms) or
directly into the thrombus (10, 25, or 50 micrograms) in four groups. After
treatment, the rabbits were killed and the residual clot was weighed. The
relationship between clot length and volume measured on angiograms and clot
weight was assessed in 13 additional untreated rabbits. Linear regression
analysis was used to estimate the initial clot weight on the basis of
measured clot length in treated animals. The extent of clot lysis was
significantly greater with injection of tPA and 10-, 25-, or 50-micrograms
PGE1 directly into the thrombous than with administration of tPA alone.
