Woven vascular microsurgical prostheses in our experimental practice

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Vascular Surgery
• Materials Science

Background:

• Developing effective vascular prostheses is crucial for treating arterial and venous defects.
• Microsurgical techniques require prostheses with specific diameters and high patency rates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a reliable woven microsurgical prosthesis for vascular reconstruction.
• To assess the long-term patency and performance of the prosthesis in animal models.

Main Methods:

• Over six years, 38 types of woven microsurgical prostheses were tested in laboratory rats, beagle dogs, and pigs.
• A 2 mm inner diameter prosthesis (No. 36) was selected based on 224 experiments in rats.
• Prosthesis No. 36 was implanted into abdominal aortic defects in rats and tested in the radial artery and cephalic vein of dogs.

Main Results:

• Prosthesis No. 36 achieved 100% patency when a 1 cm segment was inserted into rat abdominal aorta defects (40 experiments).
• The follow-up period for the rat experiments was 12 months.
• Implantation into large animal models (dogs) is ongoing, targeting radial artery, cephalic vein, and femoral artery defects.

Conclusions:

• Woven microsurgical prosthesis No. 36 is a reliable option for vascular repair, showing excellent patency in rat abdominal aorta models.
• Further studies in large animals are necessary to fully establish its efficacy in diverse vascular applications.