Objective: To evaluate a xenographic urethral replacement model utilizing porcine-derived, decellularized blood vessel matrices in rabbits.
Materials and Methods: In 17 male rabbits, a 1 cm tubular segment of porcine, acellular blood vessel matrix replaced a 1 cm urethral defect without a postoperative catheter. The animals were sacrificed at varying intervals (1, 3, and 6 months) and assessed for graft patency and integration properties.
Results: All but 1 animal survived. One animal died of unknown etiology 1 month after surgery. In all 17 rabbits, the urethra was patent, without evidence of stricture formation as confirmed by gross inspection and passage of a 10 Fr catheter at the time of euthanasia/tissue harvest. At 1 month, histological examination revealed epithelialization, host-cell infiltration, angiogenesis, and migration of the smooth muscle. The smooth muscle bundles were more organized by 6 months. No significant fibrosis or stricture was observed in the anastomotic area.
Conclusion: This successful experiment would support efforts for further investigation of a potentially off-the-shelf product using acellular blood vessel matrices for single-stage urethral reconstruction without requiring stem cell technology. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a xenograft blood vessel matrix for urethral substitution.
Sam Kuykendall, Gilad A Amiel, Erin T Bird
Date Received: November 22, 2011
Accepted on: February 02, 2012
KEYWORDS: Urethra, graft, repair, urethroplasty, biomaterial
CORRESPONDENCE: Sam Kuykendall, MD, Scott and White, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Temple, Texas, United States ( ).
CITATION: UroToday Int J. 2012 Apr;5(2):art 8.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3834/uij.1944-5784.2012.04.08