Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1-2025
Abstract
Purpose: To evaluate the impact of incorporating perfluorocarbons (PFCs), specifically octafluoropropane (C₃F₈) and perfluorobutane (C₄F₁₀), on the stability of sodium tetradecyl sulfate (STS)–based foams. Materials and Methods: Tessari method was employed to generate foams. C₃F₈ and C₄F₁₀ were compared with room air due to their known characteristic as gas vesicle stabilizers. Each trial set encompassed ratios of 4, 3, 2, 1.5:1 mL of gas-to-STS. Foam decay (1 − percent foam remaining in syringe) was monitored using a 4K camera over 1 hour, followed by hourly snapshots for 3 hours. All trials were repeated in triplicate. Statistical analysis was carried out via 1-way analysis of variance and, where appropriate, Student t-test. Results: PFC-stabilized foams exhibited greater stability than room air–stabilized foams, with C₄F₁₀ demonstrating the highest stability. Room air–stabilized foams fully decayed within 30 minutes, whereas PFCs maintained over 70% foam volume for up to 45 minutes. Notably, a significant decrease in foam stability was observed in the 4:1 PFC:STS of C₃F₈ between 60 and 180 minutes, a decline that was not observed in C₄F₁₀ foams (P < .001). Although decreasing the room air:STS ratio diminished foam stability for room air, it enhanced stability in PFC-stabilized foams. Specifically, the 4:1 PFC:STS ratio sustained approximately 15% more foam than the 1.5:1 gas:STS ratio over 180 minutes, aside from the substantial decrease in C₃F₈ foams. These findings suggest that PFCs improve the stability of sclerosing foams. Conclusions: C₃F₈ and C₄F₁₀ showed greater stability with STS compared with room air, and C₄F₁₀ exhibited better stability over time than C₃F₈.
Language
English
Publication Title
Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology
Grant
R25CA221718
Rights
© Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) 2025. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/), which permits non-commercial copying and redistribution of the material in any medium or format, provided the original work is not changed in any way and is properly cited.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Ruhl, H., Berg, F. M., Rahnemai-Azar, A. A., Abboud, S., & Exner, A. A. (2025). Foam Fortification: The Effect of Perfluorocarbon Gases on the Stability of Sclerosing Agent Foams. Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvir.2025.07.009
Manuscript Version
Final Publisher Version