Water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol microspheres for temporary embolization: development and in vivo characteristics in a pig kidney model.

Purpose: To preliminarily examine whether solubility of water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) microspheres in blood plasma changes in proportion to their degrees of saponification. The study also examined their feasibility as a temporary embolic agents in the pig renal artery.

Materials And Methods: Three types of PVA microspheres with the degrees of saponification of 97 mol% (S97), 98 mol% (S98), and 99 mol% (S99) were prepared.