M. Lanzetta et Er. Owen, USE OF THE 3M PRECISE MICROVASCULAR ANASTOMOTIC SYSTEM IN GRAFTING 1-MM DIAMETER ARTERIES WITH POLYTETRAFLUOROETHYLENE PROSTHESES - A LONG-TERM STUDY, Journal of reconstructive microsurgery, 9(3), 1993, pp. 173-181
The 3M Precise Microvascular Anastomotic System has had an experimenta
l long-term testing for the first time in polytetrafluoroethylene (PTF
E) 1-mm diameter arterial grafts. The grafts were placed in the infrar
enal aorta of 48 rats. At different time intervals (2 weeks, 16 weeks
and 1 year), each section containing a graft and its pair of anastomot
ic devices was removed and processed for light and scanning electron m
icroscopy, with the aid of a newly-designed device. Eighty-three perce
nt of the mechanically anastomosed grafts were found to be patent. Onl
y 14.8 percent of the grafts harvested at 16 weeks or 1 year showed ne
o-endothelial lining on the inner surface of the graft. A constant fin
ding of this study was the marked atrophy of the aortic media within t
he devices, that was progressively evident from 2 weeks to 1 year. A n
etwork of capillaries within the graft walls was present at 16 weeks.
In one case, a large capillary was found to traverse the graft wall an
d to reach the luminal surface, suggesting that transmural capillaries
may contribute to the formation of neo-intima in 1-mm PTFE grafts.