ARTERIES FROM HUMAN-BEINGS ARE LESS INFECTIBLE BY STAPHYLOCOCCUS-AUREUS THAN POLYTETRAFLUOROETHYLENE IN AN AORTIC DOG-MODEL

Purpose: Treatment of aortoiliac prosthetic graft infections includes the removal of the infected material and repeat revascularization if n ecessary. The risk of infection of the graft material used for the rep eat revascularization has been the drawback of its use in situ except with autografts. Good results were obtained in this setting by use of in situ arterial allografts. The purpose of our study was to compare i n vivo the infectibility of arteries used as allografts to the infecti bility of commercially available prostheses. Methods: Twelve dogs unde rwent thoracoabdominal aortic bypass with use of either an artery from a human being (n = 6) or an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) graft (n = 6). One month later, bacteremia was produced with Staphyloc occus aureus. One week after bacterial challenge, the animals were kil led to recover the grafts. Each graft then underwent bacterial study. Results: None of the arterial grafts grew bacteria, whereas four of th e six ePTFE grafts (p < 0.05) did. In addition, none of the fragments of the arterial grafts grew bacteria, whereas 24 of the 60 ePTFE fragm ents (p < 0.01) did. Conclusion: Nonautologous arteries are less infec tible than ePTFE in vivo. This decreased infectibility makes the arter ial allograft an appealing material when revascularization must be per formed in a contaminated field.