Helmut Schoellnast MD, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Sebastien Monette, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Ajita Deodhar MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Majid Maybody MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Joseph Patrick Erinjeri MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Stephen Barnett Solomon MD, Abstract Co-Author: Medical Advisory Board, General Electric Company Advisory Board, AngioDynamics, Inc Director, Xoft, Inc

Gordon Single BS, Abstract Co-Author: Employee, AngioDynamics, Inc

William C. Hamilton MBA, BS, Abstract Co-Author: Employee, AngioDynamics, Inc

Paula Ezell, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Michael D Stubblefield, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

To evaluate whether irreversible electroporation (IRE) has the potential to damage nerves.

The study was approved by the institutional animal care and use committee. CT-guided IRE (electric field per distance, 1500 V/cm; pulse length, 70 microseconds; number of pulses, 90) of 7 sciatic nerves was performed in 5 pigs that were euthanized on the day of ablation (acute stage, 2 pigs), or 3 days (subacute stage, one pig), 6 days (early chronic stage, two pigs), and 14 days (late chronic stage, two pigs) after ablation. The sciatic nerves were harvested immediately after euthanasia for histopathological evaluation.

All nerves examined displayed histologic evidence of degeneration, with a progression of lesions from acute to chronic. The percentage of affected nerve fascicles on transverse sections was between 50% and 100%. Axonal swelling and perineurial inflammatory infiltrates were observed in every stage. Swelling and loss of myelin sheath was observed from the subacute to the chronic stage. Schwann cell hyperplasia, macrophages infiltration, and axonal fragmentation and loss were found in the chronic stage. The endoneurial architecture remained intact in all cases. Wallerian axonal degeneration of the nerve distal of the ablation site was a chronic finding.

IRE has the potential to damage nerves leading to axonal swelling and fragmentation and distal Wallerian degeneration. However, the preservation of the Schwann cells and of the endoneurial architecture suggests that there is a potential for axonal regeneration.

Irreversible electroporation has the potential to damage nerves, but the preservation of the Schwann cells and of the endoneurial architecture suggests a potential for axonal regeneration.

Schoellnast, H, Monette, S, Deodhar, A, Maybody, M, Erinjeri, J, Solomon, S, Single, G, Hamilton, W, Ezell, P, Stubblefield, M, The Acute and Chronic Effects of Irreversible Electroporation (IRE) on Nerves: A Laboratory Study Related to the Clinical Use of IRE as an Ablation Tool for Cancer.  Radiological Society of North America 2010 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 28 - December 3, 2010 ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2010/9012347.html