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Failure of Dacron prostheses caused by structural defect.
Surgery
|November 1, 1978
Summary
Dacron prostheses rarely fail intrinsically. Two cases of knitted Dacron graft failure, one aortojejunal fistula and one aneurysmal degeneration, highlight material defects causing serious arterial complications.
Area of Science:
- Vascular Surgery
- Biomaterials Science
- Pathology
Background:
- Intrinsic failure of Dacron prostheses is rare, with only 24 cases reported.
- This study presents two new cases of knitted Dacron prosthetic failure.
Observation:
- A patient developed an aortojejunal fistula 6 years post-abdominal aortic aneurysm repair due to a longitudinal tear in the Dacron graft, caused by a dropped stitch.
- Another patient experienced aneurysmal degeneration of a femoropopliteal bypass graft 6 years after implantation, with transverse failures linked to the graft's corrugation.
Findings:
- Microscopic analysis revealed a dropped stitch defect in the first graft, leading to longitudinal failure.
- The second graft showed transverse failures at the corrugation valleys, indicating material weakness under arterial pressure.
Implications:
- These cases underscore the potential for rare but serious prosthetic material defects in Dacron grafts.
- Understanding these failure mechanisms is crucial for improving graft design and patient safety in vascular reconstructions.