title: Experimental replacement of the thoracic inferior vena cava with a high-porosity expanded polytetrafluoroethylene graft wrapped in an omental pedicle flap.
abstract: We examined the patency and healing of a high-porosity expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) graft implanted as an interposition graft in the thoracic inferior vena cava (IVC) and wrapped in an omental pedicle flap. High-porosity ePTFE grafts of 60 microns fibril length, with an internal diameter of 10 mm and a length of 4 cm, were implanted in 12 mongrel dogs. In 6 dogs, the grafts were wrapped in omental pedicle flap, and in the remaining 6 the grafts were unwrapped. The animals were killed 4 weeks after the replacement and the grafts were removed for examination. Patency of the graft in both groups was 100%; however, the thrombus-free area in the omentum-wrapped group was significantly larger (P < 0.05) than that in the unwrapped group. Light microscopy revealed the marked infiltration of cells and capillaries within the graft interstices in the omentum-wrapped group. These findings suggest that encapsulation of the high-porosity ePTFE graft is promoted by an omental pedicle flap.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Surgery, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohkashiwa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishibe
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohtake
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Manase
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okuda
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanabe
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Katoh
mesh_terms: D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D000818:Animals; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation; D004285:Dogs; D009852:Omentum / Q000637:transplantation*; D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D014654:Vascular Patency; D014682:Vena Cava, Inferior / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene