Seeding of arteriovenous prostheses with homologous endothelium. A preliminary report.
Endothelial cell seeding of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (e-PTFE) arteriovenous prostheses was performed to compare seeding with homologous vs. autologous cells and to study the effect of homologous seeding with a larger vs. a smaller number of cells. Sixteen dogs were randomly assigned to four equal groups: I, control; II, light homologous seeded; III, heavy homologous seeded; and IV, autologous seeded. Bilateral femoral arteriovenous loop grafts were inserted in all. Efficiency of seeding was assessed by cell counts of instilled vs. retained cells. All grafts remained patent and were harvested approximately 8 weeks after implantation. Samples were evaluated grossly by scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy. There was a direct correlation between number of cells instilled and number retained for each graft; group III received and retained the largest number (p less than 0.001 and p less than 0.05, respectively). The amount of thrombus deposition on the lumen of all grafts was grossly the same. Endothelium was demonstrated in samples obtained from the midgraft of groups III and IV; in contrast no endothelium was seen in groups I and II. The percentage of endothelialized surface was not determined. No immunologic cellular reaction was detected in any of the samples. We conclude that in the animal laboratory it is possible to seed e-PTFE arteriovenous prostheses successfully with homologous cells and to improve the efficiency of seeding by implanting a larger number of cells obtained from an endothelial cell bank. The potential applications of this technique to the clinical field are discussed herein.
J L
JL
Zamora
L T
LT
Navarro
C L
CL
Ives
D G
DG
Weilbaecher
Z R
ZR
Gao
G P
GP
Noon
D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects; D002452:Cell Count; D004285:Dogs; D004727:Endothelium / Q000166:cytology*; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular; D006084:Graft Rejection; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010974:Platelet Aggregation; D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000517:prevention & control; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene