Hyperplasia of neointima in small-caliber decellularized matrix vascular grafts at 4 weeks after transplantation

Abstract

Objective To explore neointimal hyperplasia in small-caliber decellularized matrix vascular grafts at 4 weeks after transplantation.Methods 17 male dogs were randomly divided into 2 groups.All the animals underwent right common carotid artery interposition with DCM (n =9) or ePTFE (n =8) vascular grafts.Color Doppler Ultrasound was applied to detect peak systolic velocity (PSV),end diastolic velocity (EDV),resistance index (RI),and inner diameter of anastomosis and midportion of the grafts at 1 and 4 weeks after implantation.All the grafts were harvested and evaluated by HE staining and light microscopy.Results All implanted grafts remained patent within 4 weeks.The difference of RI (△ RI) at the distal anastomosis between 1 and 4 weeks differed significantly in the two groups (P＜0.05).The difference of other hemodynamic parameters at anastomosis and midportion of the grafts did not differ significantly between the two groups (P＞0.05 for all comparisons).The difference of inner diameter (△ D) at anastomosis and midportion was significantly smaller in DCM group than in ePTFE group (P＜0.05 for all comparisons).Conclusions The degree of neointimal hyperplasia is smaller in small-caliber DCM vascular grafts than in ePTFE vascular grafts within 4 weeks after ttransplantation. Key words: Small-caliber, Vascular grafts; Decellularized matrix; ePTFE; Color Doppler ultrasound