Endothelialization of vascular grafts

Although work on endothelial cell seeding of vascular prostheses was first published in 1978, no clinical breakthrough had yet been achieved. Clinical data on single-staged procedures using freshly harvested autologous venous or microvascular endothelial cells are scarce and controversial. The alternative approach--the application of culture techniques--has the disadvantage of being restricted to major centers. Moreover, this in vitro endothelialization is confined to elective cases because of the delay caused by cell cultivation. Nevertheless, initial clinical trials with this two-staged technique are encouraging and indicate that the creation of an endothelium on the inner surface of prosthetic grafts is feasible in humans.