Background: Diagnosis of the etiologic agent of endoprosthesis infections is essential to enable treatment, since these infections constitute important complications of endovascular procedures. Sonication of explanted tissue and materials is a technique that can be used to facilitate detection of biofilm-producing bacteria. Objectives: To evaluate infection of pigs’ aortas after implantation of nitinol stents coated with polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) or Dacron, previously infected with biofilm-producing Staphylococcus epidermidis. Intimal thickening and the inflammatory response in the aortic wall were also evaluated. Methods: 11 ePTFE-coated nitinol stents and 10 Dacron stents infected with S. epidermidis strains were implanted in the infrarenal aorta of 21 8-week-old pigs. After 2 weeks, the aorta containing the stents was removed. A vortex mixer and ultrasound were used to homogenize the samples and remove the biofilm. Subsequently, the number of colony-forming units was counted. Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of the number of colony-forming units or of inflammation in the arterial wall. With the exception of one specimen from the Dacron group, all aortic stent cultures were positive for S. epidermidis. Conclusions: There were no significant differences in the inflammatory response or infection rate between ePTFE and Dacron-coated stents actively infected with biofilm-producing S. epidermidis. Intimal thickening and the inflammatory response to infection of endoprostheses were similar. These results suggest that the two most widely used stent lining materials have a similar infection rate.
CITATION STYLE
Dutra, C. de F., Pereira, A. H., Wollheim, C., Pongiluppi, R., Fellini, R., Gomes Junior, S. V., & Nonemacher, H. (2021). Infection of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene and dacron-coated stents with staphylococcus epidermidis: An experimental study in pigs. Jornal Vascular Brasileiro, 20. https://doi.org/10.1590/1677-5449.200157
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