IMMUNE-RESPONSE TO GELATIN-IMPREGNATED AND COLLAGEN-IMPREGNATED AORTIC DACRON GRAFTS - A RANDOMIZED STUDY

Dacron grafts are very common in vascular surgery. Primarily sealed gr afts have been available for ten years. These improve handling and red uce intraoperative blood loss. Despite a widespread use all over the w orld, it has as yet not been clarified whether coating (sealing) subst ances might cause an immune response, especially in situations of feve r or other unexplained events in the postoperative course after graft implantation. In this study, 37 patients with a gelatin-impregnated (U nigraft) and 33 with a collagen-impregnated (Hemashield) graft for aor tic or aortoiliac replacement were compared. Serum samples were invest igated for collagen antibodies at operation, one week and three months postoperatively. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test co uld not demonstrate the development of antibodies against type I, II, or III collagen in the perioperative period or three months postoperat ively.