THE ISOLATION OF A FIBROBLAST GROWTH INHIBITOR ASSOCIATED WITH PERIGRAFT SEROMA

Purpose: Perigraft seroma is a rare complication of reconstructive vas cular surgery characterized by a clear, sterile fluid collection confi ned within a fibrous pseudomembrane around a prosthetic graft. The exa ct cause of this disease is unknown but involves failure of surroundin g connective tissue to incorporate the graft. To understand why this o ccurs, we studied sera from patients with perigraft seroma for their e ffect on human fibroblasts. Sera from control subjects, patients with uninfected prosthetic grafts, and patients with prosthetic grafts were tested for comparison. Methods: Fibroblast growth was measured by rad ioactive thymidine uptake and hexosaminidase colorimetric cell prolife ration assays. We fractionated sera with gel filtration columns and me asured each fraction's effect on fibroblast growth. Results: Serum sam ples from patients with perigraft seroma inhibited fibroblast growth i n a dose-dependent manner. In contrast, a postseroma sample, normal hu man sera, and sera from patients with infected and uninfected grafts s howed no significant fibroblast inhibition. An inhibitory factor with a molecular weight of 2000 d was isolated from serum of patients with perigraft seroma. Conclusions: Perigraft seroma is associated with a f ibroblast inhibitor with a molecular weight of 2000 d. Further identif ication and characterization of this protein may lead to clinical appl ications in preventing and treating perigraft seroma.