THE USE OF CRYOPRESERVED MICROVENOUS ALLOGRAFTS IN THE VENOUS SYSTEM WITHOUT IMMUNOSUPPRESSION - AN EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY

Autogenous vein grafts are currently the number one choice in microsur gical practice for managing vessel length discrepancies. A significant percentage of these grafts is used in the venous system. Allografts m ay serve as a viable alternative source of vein grafts. Few studies in the past have described the use of cryopreserved vein grafts (1 mm in diameter) in the venous system. In the present study, we cryopreserve d the femoral veins of rats and transplanted these across rat species (ACI to Lewis) as interpositional vein grafts into a defect in the fem oral vein. Short-term patencies (21 days), expressions of systemic ant igenicity, histology, and scanning electron microscopic studies were p erformed. We obtained 100% patencies with fresh control veins and cryo preserved veins at 21 days.