In vivo assessment of chitosan/β-glycerophosphate as a new liquid embolic agent.

We sought to assess the feasibility of using thermosensitive chitosan/β-glycerophosphate forembolotherapy. The renal arteries in nine rabbits were embolized with chitosan/β-glycero-phosphate. The animals were studied angiographically and sacrificed at one week (n = 3), four weeks (n = 3), and eight weeks (n = 3) after embolotherapy. Histology was obtained at these three time points. Delivery of chitosan/β-glycerophosphate was successful in all cases. Complete occlusion was achieved in all cases. No recanalization was observed in the follow-up angiograms. No untoward inflammatory reactions were observed in the target renal arteries and infarcted kidneys during the histological examinations. Our preliminary feasibility evaluation in rabbit renal arteries indicates that C/GP is a satisfactory embolization agent.