Failure of Doppler ultrasound in the early assessment of blood flow in polytetrafluoroethylene grafts.
PTFE is widely used as an arterial and venous graft. The assessment of patency and flow through vascular grafts has been facilitated by the use of Doppler blood flow measurement instruments. However PTFE grafts do not predictably transmit the ultrasound beam used in these instruments in the operative and early postoperative period. Consequently Doppler flow measurements over PTFE grafts are unreliable and may confuse the early assessment of operative results.
D000818:Animals; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D004301:Doppler Effect; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D014463:Ultrasonography