[New technique of bilateral pulmonary artery banding using half-closed surgical clips; an experimental study]

Bilateral pulmonary artery banding (PAB) using constrictive tapes encircled around both pulmonary arteries entails frequent post-debanding residual pulmonary artery stenosis. We devised a new technique of bilateral PAB using half-closed surgical clips. Surgical clips, applied half-closed around both pulmonary arteries, transform the cross sections of the pulmonary arteries into diamond-shapes, and reduce their cross sectional areas without significantly reducing their circumferences. Animal experiment using beagles indicated that bilateral PAB using half-closed surgical clips is technically feasible and reproducible, causes less pulmonary arterial intimal proliferation and entails lower risk of residual pulmonary artery stenosis than bilateral PAB using constrictive tapes.