Wall mechanics of the stented rabbit aorta: long-term study and correlation with histological findings.

Purpose: To evaluate long-term changes in arterial wall mechanics induced by stenting of the rabbit aorta.

Methods: Eighteen New Zealand white rabbits had initial stent deployment (3x8 mm Multilink) at 110% of the pre-stenting abdominal aortic diameter. Group A (n=10) had no postdeployment stent expansion and group B (n=8) had 30% overdilation of the stent.

Validation of a newly developed B-mode image-processing technique versus wall-tracking ultrasound for the study of wall mechanics in small-calibre arteries.

Purpose: To validate a newly developed image-processing technique for the assessment of arterial wall compliance and distensibility from non-invasive B-mode ultrasound compared with the invasive wall-tracking technique.

Materials And Methods: Arterial wall compliance and distensibility coefficient were measured invasively by wall-tracking with an ultrasonic transducer implanted on the vessel wall, and non-invasively by automatic processing of B-mode ultrasound images, with a dedicated workstation and software (IO 3.1, IODP, Paris).