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[Determining the effectiveness of percutaneous cava filters: experimental studies]
J Neuerburg1, A Haupt-Pichler, F J Katterbach
1Klinik für Radiologische Diagnostik des Klinikums, Medizinischen Fakultät, RWTH-Aachen.
Purpose:
In vitro clot-trapping capacity of 16 different caval filters should be evaluated under varying experimental conditions.
Material And Methods:
In a flow model simulating in vivo conditions (soft latex tube, dextran solution at 37 degrees C, pulsatile flow at a mean rate of 3 1/min) the efficiency of 16 caval filters was evaluated in horizontal and vertical position by using 640 or 1280 clots/filter (8 sizes). Non-self centering filters were tested in centric and in tilted position.
Results:
Efficiency of optimally centered caval filters varied between 97.8 and 69.4%. The largest thrombi were captured by all optimal centered filters. A change from vertical to horizontal position of the flow model resulted in a variation of filter efficiency by about 4.8%. Efficiency of non-self centering filters decreased significantly when placed in a tilted position (mean decrease 15.5%; range 2.7%-37.7%) resulting in a deterioration of the capture rate by as much as 43.2%.
Conclusion:
Under optimal study conditions efficiency of all evaluated caval filters was high. Tilting of caval filters resulted in a significant efficiency decrease.