EARLY INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE TO GELATIN-SEALED AND COLLAGEN-SEALED DACRON PROSTHESES

The immediate inflammatory response following aortic reconstruction wi th two types of sealed Dacron grafts was studied in a prospective, ran domized manner. C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were measured before s urgery and on days 2 and 8 postoperatively. In the collagen-sealed gro up (n = 10) CRP levels were 10 +/- 9.6, 180.2 +/- 48.3, and 54.3 +/- 3 4.3 mg/L, respectively. In the gelatin-impregnated group (n = 10) the values were 10.5 +/- 8.7, 200.7 +/- 27.3, and 80.3 +/- 30.2 mg/L, resp ectively. The slight differences were not significant according to the analysis of variance test for repeated measurements. These findings s uggest that implantation of a knitted Dacron graft sealed with collage n does not lead to a higher inflammatory reaction compared with a gela tin-sealed graft.