EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF POSTSTENOTIC DILATATION IN ISOLATED ARTERIES

Abstract

Isolated human and dog iliac arteries were mounted in a double-chambered plethysmograph and perfused with merthiolate solution. Various degrees of stenosis were produced by plastic rings. Only arteries with moderate stenoses (i.e. those that produced a distal thrill and bruit) developed poststenotic dilatation, but all of them did. The dilatation usually started within 5 minutes, progressed rapidly for 20 to 30 minutes, and then more slowly for up to 3 days. Pressure–volume measurements showed that the dilated segment was more distensible than normal.