External beam irradiation following balloon angioplasty in an atherosclerotic rabbit model.

Purpose: To study the effect of external beam irradiation on the morphometry of both angioplasted and nonangioplasted arteries in a hypercholesterolemic rabbit model.

Methods And Materials: Four groups of rabbit femoral arteries were studied: arteries (a) with no intervention, (b) irradiated with a 12-Gy x-ray dose, (c) treated with balloon angioplasty, and (d) dosed with 12 Gy 30 min after balloon angioplasty.

Results: External irradiation did not change vessel morphometry in nonangioplasted arteries.