Chronic Pulmonary Artery Embolization Models in Large Animals

Abstract

A wide range of approaches have been described to develop animal models of pulmonary vascular disease (PVD). Clinical heterogeneity in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) has prompted development of different techniques to create PH models in several animal species with the objective to recapitulate specific PH/PVD phenotypes. Chronic thromboembolic PH (CTEPH) is a clinically important phenotype of PH with a documented prevalence of 0.4–9.1% in patients with history of pulmonary embolism. A well-established large animal model of CTEPH is thus necessary for studying this disease in preclinical research. Different experimental protocols with inconsistent outcomes have been reported in the literature.

We have focused on characterizing PH large animal models in a common framework; pulmonary hemodynamics, right ventricular (RV) function, and histological characterization of PVD. This research framework allows optimal evaluation of novel diagnostic tools, as well as new therapeutic strategies. The purpose of this protocol is to describe approaches to create experimental CTEPH models using recurrent pulmonary embolizations of dextran microspheres in swine. The key features of this experimental modeling approach are (1) nonsurgical, fully percutaneous techniques, (2) a minimum of four embolization procedures, with 1–2 month time period, (3) mild to moderate PH hemodynamics (mean PA pressure increase ~20–60%), (4) severe pulmonary vascular remodeling, (5) mild RV remodeling, and (6) a high reproducibility and low mortality (<10%).