title: Use of the doubly tapered graft for the creation of a systemic-pulmonary arterial shunt.
abstract: It is now possible to construct vascular grafts of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene having complex configurations. In this series of experiments a double tapered graft was used to create a bypass shunt between the aorta and the pulmonary artery in rhesus monkeys and between the aorta and the iliac artery in dogs. When the synthetic material was placed under a slight degree of tension, a high degree of patency was achieved in animals killed three to six months following implantation. The use of this approach in neonates with cyanotic congenital heart disease necessitating the creation of systemic-pulmonary artery shunts is suggested as a new method to achieve a controlled lumen size and an increased patency rate, while simultaneously decreasing the incidence of congestive heart failure or of late stricture of the pulmonary artery.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000601:surgery*; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004285:Dogs; D000882:Haplorhini; D007083:Iliac Artery / Q000601:surgery*; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000601:surgery*; D013923:Thromboembolism / Q000517:prevention & control