Corynebacterium parvum versus tetracycline as pleural sclerosing agents in rabbits

Tetracycline has been one of the most commonly used agents for producing a pleurodesis. However, it is no longer available due to more stringent requirements on the manufacturing process. The objective of this project was to determine whether Corynebacterium parvum is an effective sclerosant in an experimental model in rabbits. The following medications were instilled intrapleurally in anaesthetized male rabbits: tetracycline 35 mg.kg-1 or C. parvum 4 or 8 mg, all diluted with bacteriostatic saline solution. Twenty eight days after the instillation, the animals were sacrificed and the pleural spaces assessed macroscopically for evidence of pleurodesis and microscopically for evidence of fibrosis and inflammation. The intrapleural injection of C. parvum was ineffective in creating pleural fibrosis. The mean degree of pleurodesis in the 10 rabbits who received tetracycline was 3.5 +/- 0.7 (scale 0-4) whilst in the 10 rabbits that received 4 mg C. parvum it was 0.0 +/- 0.0, and in the 10 rabbits that received 8 mg C. parvum it was 0.5 +/- 0.8. Based on this study, we recommend that C. parvum should not be used as a pleural sclerosant in patients with normal pleura.