title: Improved healing of small-caliber, long-fibril expanded polytetrafluoroethylene vascular grafts by covalent bonding of fibronectin.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the intermediate performance of small-caliber, long-fibril expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) vascular grafts pretreated with covalent bonding of fibronectin in dogs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Small-caliber (4 mm), long-fibril (60 microm), ePTFE vascular grafts, 10 cm in length, were pretreated by covalent bonding of fibronectin. Bilateral iliac grafting was done in dogs using a fibronectin-bonded graft on one side and a nonbonded control graft on the other side. The grafts were retrieved 12 weeks after implantation, and subjected to histomorphometric analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although the patency rates of the fibronectin-bonded and control grafts were the same (3/7, 43%), the fibronectin-bonded grafts showed almost complete neointimal healing, whereas the nonbonded control grafts showed only partial neointimal healing, proximally and distally.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Small-caliber, long-fibril ePTFE vascular grafts with covalent bonding of fibronectin achieved almost complete neointimal healing by the time of retrieval at 12 weeks. This indicates that, with further modifications, our new technique for covalent bonding of fibronectin has great potential in the development of small-caliber arterial prosthetic grafts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshifumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Toshiya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishibe
authors.forename: Hidehiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miura
authors.forename: Kazuaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hazama
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kudo
authors.forename: Toshifumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Murashita
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okuda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001705:Bioprosthesis; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004285:Dogs; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005353:Fibronectins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006084:Graft Rejection; D006085:Graft Survival; D007083:Iliac Artery / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011336:Probability; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D011897:Random Allocation; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D005353:Fibronectins; D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene