Homologous and heterologous connective tissue tube for vascular substitute

A newly-developed vascular graft having many advantages over the fabric vascular prosthesis was evaluated as aortic and vena caval substitutes. Alcohol-preserved connective tissue tubes, obtained from dogs and calves, supported by polyester mesh were implanted into the thoracic aortae of 61 dogs and the superior vena cava of 24 dogs. In the case of the aortic experiment, all the tested animals were healthy and each graft was patent at the time of removal. In the case of the vena caval experiment, all the tested animals were healthy, but 10 of 24 grafts were occluded. Aneurysmal dilatation, immune response and regressive changes of newly formed neointima were not observed in any case. Moreover, no blood leakage through the graft wall was observed. Leakage at the line of anastomosis was very little. The great advantage of the graft was good endothelization of the neointima. Between the grafts obtained from dogs and calves, there was no difference in the process of their healing.