Development of a “leak-proof,” knitted Dacron vascular prosthesis

• Published in: Journal of vascular surgery Vol. 3; no. 6; pp. 895 - 903
• Main Authors: Quiñones-Baldrich, William J., Moore, Wesley S., Ziomek, Stanley, Chvapil, Milos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Mosby, Inc 01.06.1986; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animals; Aorta, Abdominal - surgery; Biological and medical sciences; Blood Vessel Prosthesis; Collagen; Dogs; Female; Male; Medical sciences; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Polyethylene Terephthalates; Postoperative Complications - etiology; Prosthesis Design; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Thrombosis - etiology; Time Factors; Vascular surgery: aorta, extremities, vena cava. Surgery of the lymphatic vessels; Wound Healing; Bypass; Prosthesis; Artery
• ISSN: 0741-5214; 1097-6809
• DOI: 10.1016/0741-5214(86)90157-6

We have developed a technique to render knitted Dacron prostheses totally impervious to blood leak by impregnating the cloth with collagen. These grafts were prepared by the manufacturer, sterilized, and have an indefinite shelf life. The objective of this study was to determine whether collagen impregnation has a deleterious effect on surface thrombogenicity and graft healing. The infrarenal aortas of 30 mongrel dogs were replaced with 6 cm × 6 mm Dacron grafts (15 collagen-impregnated and 15 control). The collagen-impregnated prostheses were visibly indistinguishable from the control. After blood flow was restored, no interstitial bleeding occurred in the collagen grafts, in contrast to the control grafts that initially leaked profusely. When they recovered, the dogs were divided into three groups: group I (five collagen, five control), group II (five collagen, four control), and group III (five collagen, three control). The grafts were harvested at 3,6, and 9 months, respectively. Retroperitoneal healing response, capsular thickness and adherence, completeness of neointimal healing, surface fibrinolytic activator activity, and sections taken for light and scanning electron microscopy were studied and compared in a blinded fashion. In a separate set of experiments, experimental and control grafts were compared for in vivo surface thrombogenicity. The healing data were identical in the experimental and control prostheses in all parameters. Of particular interest was that initial capsule adherence was better and surface thrombogenicity less in the collagen-impregnated prosthesis. We conclude that collagen impregnation of a knitted Dacron prosthesis has no deleterious effect for the term of observation of this experiment.