DEFINITIVE PROOF OF ENDOTHELIALIZATION OF A DACRON ARTERIAL PROSTHESIS IN A HUMAN-BEING

A 10 mm woven Dacron axillofemoral bypass graft was removed from a 65- year-old patient during redo surgery after an implant period of 26 mon ths, because of a large seroma that surrounded the entire length of th e graft. Tissue blocks were taken from representative areas along the entire length of the graft surface and evaluated by light microscopy w ith hematoxylin and eosin and Masson trichrome staining, scanning elec tron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and immunocytochemi cal staining. Paraffin-embedded sections were stained with smooth musc le cell a-actin, which demonstrated smooth muscle cells in the pseudoi ntima, and Ham 56 stain to identify macrophages. Endothelial factor VI II/von Willebrand factor and Ulex europaeus agglutinin identified huma n endothelial cells on the flow surface, in areas far removed from the anastomoses to the native vessels. This is the first definitive proof in a human of endotheliatization of a synthetic arterial graft beyond the pannus ingrowth zone.