Vein to artery grafts: a study of re-innervation in relation to neo-intimal hyperplasia.
This study was undertaken to determine whether there is an association between the sympathetic re-innervation and development of neo-intimal smooth muscle hyperplasia in vein to artery grafts. Iliolumbar vein to iliac artery grafts were placed in 21 rats by microsurgical techniques. Graft innervation and neo-intimal thickness were examined at five time intervals between 1 and 32 weeks after grafting. Nerve fibres were demonstrated microscopically by formaldehyde-induced fluorescence of catecholamines. The degree of innervation was quantitated by counting the nerve profiles and this was compared with the amount of neo-intimal hyperplasia. The distance between adventitial nerve profiles and neo-intima ('diffusion' distance) was measured to determine whether there was a trophic interaction between the two. These data were compared with similar measurements in control iliac arteries in the same animals. Although the development of both graft innervation and neo-intimal hyperplasia occurred coincidentally, no definite quantitative association between the two was established.
Department of Anatomy and Human Biology, University of Western Australia, Nedlands.
S
S
Meagher
J K
JK
McGeachie
F J
FJ
Prendergast
D000320:Adrenergic Fibers / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001158:Arteries / Q000294:innervation* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D001166:Arteriovenous Shunt, Surgical; D006965:Hyperplasia; D008297:Male; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000294:innervation / Q000473:pathology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014680:Veins / Q000294:innervation* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery