Analysis of spinal cord blood supply combining vascular corrosion casting and fluorescence microsphere technique: A feasibility study in an aortic surgical large animal model

Abstract

Introduction: Spinal cord ischemia after cardiovascular interventions continues to be a devastating problem in modern surgery. The role of intraspinal vascular networks and anterior radiculomedullary arteries (ARMA) in preventing spinal cord ischemia is poorly understood. Materials and methods: Landrace pigs (n = 30, 35.1 ± 3.9 kg) underwent a lateral thoracotomy. Fluorescent microspheres were injected into the left atrium and a reference sample was aspirated from the descending aorta. Repeated measurements of spinal cord and renal cortical blood flow from the left and right kidneys with three different microsphere colors in five pigs were taken to validate reproducibility. Spinal cord blood flow to the upper thoracic (T1–T4), mid-thoracic (T5–T8), lower thoracic (T9–T13), and lumbar (L1–L3) levels were determined. After euthanasia, we carried out selective vascular corrosion cast and counted the left and right ARMAs from levels T1–T13. Results: Blood flow analysis of the left and right kidneys revealed a strong correlation (r =.94, p