PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF VERAPAMIL ON RENAL TISSUE DURING SHOCKWAVE APPLICATION IN RABBIT MODEL

Although extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) is the treatment o f choice for symptomatic urinary calculi, it has been shown in number of studies that adverse effects of high-energy shockwaves may be encou ntered in short- and long-term follow-up, To evaluate the possible pro tective effect of verapamil administration on renal tissue, both magne tic resonance imaging (MRI) and histopathologic examination were perfo rmed after SWL in rabbits, Thirty-five animals were divided into three groups, The 15 animals in the first group were fed verapamil (0.1 mg/ kg) for 3 days, Another 15 animals received no medication but underwen t SWL, and the remaining 5 animals received anesthesia alone (sham gro up), The animals were then subdivided into three groups according to t he shockwave number applied (1000, 1500, or 2000) and the aforemention ed evaluations were performed 24 hours and 3 months after the procedur e, We found prominent histopathologic alterations in animals not recei ving any medication before SWL, Persistence of these pathologic altera tions during 3 months of follow-up indicated the importance of preserv ation of renal architecture during high-energy shockwave application, On the other hand, animals under verapamil medication prior to SWL dem onstrated only a limited degree of histopathologic alteration, Demonst ration of a normal histologic pattern after 3 months supported the pre servation of tissue structure by such medication, No significant histo pathologic alteration could be observed in the sham-group animals, as expected, Our study demonstrates that verapamil is protective against shockwave-induced renal tubular damage, Such medications may be useful to avoid the proven histopathologic and functional side effects of hi gh-energy shockwaves.