The design of clinical graft studies.
This paper contains certain proposals for future graft studies. Graft failure should be defined as any occlusion of the graft. Time should be measured from the end of operation to the first occlusion of the graft. The results should be analysed by the Kaplan-Meier estimator, and patency rates should be compared by the log-rank test or Gehan's test. It is stressed that scientifically valid data can only be obtained in prospective, randomized trials.
D000206:Actuarial Analysis; D000671:Amputation, Surgical; D000818:Animals; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D011897:Random Allocation; D012107:Research Design