[Plaque morphology after arterial interventions in the New Zealand white rabbit--which model of restenosis is most suitable?].

Purpose: For evaluation of therapy for possible reduction of restenosis after PTA a suitable animal model is needed. The influence of different interventions on arterial plaque composition was analysed in New Zealand White Rabbits.

Material And Methods: The following interventions were performed in the infrarenal aorta of New Zealand White Rabbits (n = 42): a) Balloon denudation (BD) with and b) without 0.5% cholesterol diet (CD), c) application of a Wiktor stent, d) CF without BD, and e) control group, 6 weeks after intervention morphometry and histology were performed.

Results: After BD the stenosis rate measured 26 +/- 18%, additional CD after prior BD increased the stenoses rate by 2.5 times up to 61.1%. After stent implantation there was only a thin neointimal layer (89 +/- 68 microns) around the stent wires.

Conclusions: Neither implantation of stents nor single CD are suitable as restenosis models. BD with and without CD was followed by a distinct neointima formation with different cellular composition. The New Zealand White Rabbit constitutes an acceptable model for contemporary research in arteriosclerosis.