Use Of Vascularized Graft Research Articles

Reinforcement of vascular grafts with viable intestinal segments.

THE USE of vascular grafts has progressed from the experimental surgical laboratory to the operating rooms of the larger hospitals, where replacement of segments of major vessels has become a relatively common procedure. Much of the recent literature has concerned itself with methods of preserving blood vessels, technical procedures, means of reinforcing grafts, and much speculation as to the ultimate outcome of these grafts. Although the immediate results in the vascular grafts have been very satisfactory, none of the grafts has gone for a sufficiently long period to determine whether or not they will eventually dilate up under the continual pounding of arterial pressure and became aneurysms. Nabatoff, Touroff, and Gross 1 showed that venous homografts in dogs will dilate in two to four years, since the functioning smooth muscle is dead. It is known that no smooth muscle will function when it is deprived of its nerve and blood