Intra-arterial effects of cisplatin on microvascular anastomoses in the rat model

Objective: To evaluate the patency of microvascular anastomoses in arteries exposed to intra-arterial cisplatin. Study Design: Animal model. Methods: The common iliac artery of 15 rats was injected with 150 mg/m(2) cisplatin. Five rats were injected with the same volume of saline serving as physiological controls. The ipsilateral femoral artery was transected and anastomosed using microsurgical technique within 3 to 5 days. A Doppler probe was used before and after the anastomosis to assess blood flow. The vessel was re-examined on postoperative day 5. Pulsatile blood flow and the presence or absence of a Doppler signal was recorded at this time. Vessels were harvested to include the anastomosis site and fixed for histological evaluation. The contralateral femoral artery was also harvested for comparison. Results: All femoral artery anastomoses in the experimental and control arm had good, pulsatile blood flow by microscopic evaluation. No thrombosed vessels were visualized, and Doppler signals remained strong at all vessel anastomoses. Histological analysis of the vessels revealed a trend toward increased inflammatory infiltrate in the walls of the vessels treated with cisplatin. We did not appreciate a functional decrease in lumen size. Conclusions: Selective catheterization intra-arterial cisplatin chemotherapy does not affect the patency of vessels following a microvascular anastomosis in the rat model. The trend toward increased inflammatory response in the vessel walls may suggest the need for closer monitoring in patients treated with intraarterial chemotherapy.