Yorkshire pigs underwent a 60-minute catheter balloon occlusion of the left circumflex artery. Two weeks after MI animals underwent epicardial placement of a biodegradable, porous polyurethane (poly(ester urethane)urea; PEUU) patch (MI+PEUU, n?=?7) or sham surgery (MI+sham, n?=?8). Echocardiography before surgery and at 4 and 8 weeks after surgery measured the end-diastolic area (EDA) and fractional area change ( % FAC). All animals were humanely killed 8 weeks after surgery and hearts were histologically assessed.
At 8 weeks, echocardiography revealed greater EDA values in the MI+sham group (23.6 ¡À 6.6 cm2, mean ¡À standard deviaation) than in the MI+PEUU group (15.9 ¡À 2.5 cm2) (P?<?.05) and a lower % FAC in the MI+sham group (24.8 ¡À 7.6) than in the MI+PEUU group (35.9 ¡À 7.8) (P?<?.05). The infarcted ventricular wall was thicker in the MI+PEUU group (1.56 ¡À 0.5 cm) than in the MI+sham group (0.91 ¡À 0.24 cm) (P?<?.01).
Biodegradable elastomeric PEUU patch implantation onto the porcine heart 2 weeks post-MI attenuated left ventricular adverse remodeling and functional deterioration and was accompanied by increased neovascularization. These findings, although limited to a 2-month follow-up, may suggest an attractive clinical option to moderate post-MI cardiac failure.