title: Comparative evaluation of prosthetic, reversed, and in situ vein bypass grafts in distal popliteal and tibial-peroneal revascularization. Veterans Administration Cooperative Study Group 141.
abstract: In 1983, the Veterans Administration initiated a cooperative study in 18 medical centers to perform a prospective comparative evaluation of vascular grafts. Five hundred ninety-six patients have had femoropopliteal below-knee or femorotibial-peroneal (polytetrafluoroethylene, umbilical vein, in situ, or reversed saphenous vein) bypasses. Patency evaluation at two years revealed that for femoropopliteal below-knee reconstruction, the vein patency (76%) was better than prosthetic patency (64%). For femorotibial-peroneal reconstructions, the two-year patency for vein bypasses (73%) was significantly better than for prosthetic bypass grafts (30%). In general, the site of the distal anastomosis did not affect vein patency, but, with prosthetic bypasses, patency at two years progressively decreased with a more distal anastomosis. In situ and reversed saphenous vein bypasses had similar two-year patency for both femoropopliteal below-knee and femorotibial reconstructions.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000601:surgery*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg / Q000098:blood supply*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011150:Popliteal Artery / Q000601:surgery*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011897:Random Allocation; D012501:Saphenous Vein / Q000637:transplantation*; D014654:Vascular Patency