Endothelium during microarterial graft procurement and transplantation

Microarterial grafts are prone to mechanical endothelial injury that can ha ve profound effects on the transplanted vessel, a factor neglected in studi es on vascular changes posttransplantation. The aim of this study was to do cument the integrity of the endothelial lining after both procurement and t ransplantation of rat aortic grafts, using a minimal touch technique with a nd without the use of topical papaverine. It was found that procurement usi ng a simple minimal touch technique preserved the endothelium and transplan tation could be performed without endothelial injury. The appearance of "no rmal" endothelium varied with the degree of dis-tension of the artery, sugg esting a dynamic endothelial architecture to accommodate changes in the sur face area of the artery during pulsation. These findings indicate that tran splantation of an arterial segment without injury to the intima is possible and stress the importance of technical controls after both procurement and transplantation to prevent the use of injured grafts and misleading result s. (C) 2000 Wiley-iiss, Inc.