DIFFERENTIAL EFFECT OF THE RETROPLEURAL AND RETROPERITONEAL ENVIRONMENTS ON HEALING OF THE INNER WALL OF POROUS FABRIC PROSTHESES IN THE THORACIC AND ABDOMINAL-AORTA OF THE SAME DOG
N. Hayashida et al., DIFFERENTIAL EFFECT OF THE RETROPLEURAL AND RETROPERITONEAL ENVIRONMENTS ON HEALING OF THE INNER WALL OF POROUS FABRIC PROSTHESES IN THE THORACIC AND ABDOMINAL-AORTA OF THE SAME DOG, Annals of vascular surgery, 9(4), 1995, pp. 369-377
Healing of the inner wall of the same preclotted knitted Dacron arteri
al prostheses was compared in the descending thoracic aorta (DTA) and
the abdominal aorta (AA) of the same dog. Each of 16 dogs received thi
s dual implantation with study periods of 4 weeks for five dogs, 8 wee
ks for five dogs, and 16 weeks for six dogs. Healing was studied with
light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron
microscopy, and immunocytochemistry identification. The outer capsule
was firmly adherent to the Dacron framework of all grafts implanted in
the DTA; advanced healing of the inner wall of all thoracic grafts wa
s present by 4 weeks, nearly complete healing by 8 weeks, and complete
healing by 16 weeks. In contrast, the outer capsule was either not at
tached or only loosely adherent to the Dacron framework in eight AA gr
afts (50%), and in these implants no healing of the inner wall occurre
d beyond the limited perianastomotic pannus zone. In the other eight i
mplants in which the outer capsule was firmly adherent to the Dacron f
ramework, healing was roughly comparable to that in the grafts implant
ed in the DTA. This study demonstrated that (1) DTA grafts heal faster
and more completely than AA grafts, (2) healing and endothelializatio
n are related to the tightness of the outer capsule, (3) there is a hi
gh incidence of loose tissue attachment in the AA, and (4) healing of
aortic grafts is site specific.