Aortic graft infections: replacement with autogenous vein

Area of Science:

• Vascular Surgery
• Infectious Disease Management
• Prosthetic Graft Complications

Background:

• Aortic graft infections pose significant challenges in vascular surgery.
• Traditional treatments like graft excision and extra-anatomic bypass have limitations.
• The need for infection-resistant and durable graft materials is critical.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and summarize institutional experience using the superficial femoral-popliteal vein (SFPV) for aortic prosthesis replacement.
• To evaluate the efficacy and safety of SFPV in treating infected aortic grafts.

Main Methods:

• Review of published experience utilizing SFPV for infected aortic prostheses.
• Single-stage SFPV bypass and prosthetic graft excision procedure.
• Analysis of operative times, mortality, amputation rates, and long-term outcomes.

Main Results:

• SFPV demonstrates high resistance to all types of infections.
• No long-term degeneration of the SFPV has been observed.
• Associated with low mortality and amputation rates, superior to alternative methods.

Conclusions:

• Graft excision and replacement with SFPV is an excellent alternative for aortic graft infections.
• SFPV is particularly suitable for complex aortofemoral reconstructions when extra-anatomic bypass is not feasible.
• Minimal venous sequelae result from SFPV harvest.