Experimental replacement of the thoracic inferior vena cava with a high-porosity expanded polytetrafluoroethylene graft wrapped in an omental pedicle flap.
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.
Ohkashiwa
H
H
Second Department of Surgery, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
Nishibe
T
T
Ohtake
S
S
Miyazaki
K
K
Manase
H
H
Watanabe
S
S
Takahashi
T
T
Okuda
Y
Y
Tanabe
T
T
Katoh
H
H
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*
D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene