Myointimal thickening in experimental vein grafts is dependent on wall tension

This study examines the relative contributions of intraluminal pressure, blood flow, wall tension, and shear stress to the development of myointimal thickening in experimental vein grafts. To study these different hemodynamic parameters, several experimental models were created in 30 New Zealand White rabbits separated into six groups: common carotid interposition vein grafts harvested at 4 weeks (VG-4) or 12 weeks (VG-12), common carotid-linguofacial vein arteriovenous fistulas harvested at 4 weeks (AVF-4) or 12 weeks (AVF-12), AVFs with partial outflow obstruction harvested at 4 weeks (AVFobs), and combination VG-AVFs in series harvested at 4 weeks (VGAVF). Blood pressure and flow in the graft or vein were measured by use of a transducer-tipped pressure catheter and electromagnetic flow meter. At harvest, veins were perfusion-fixed and proximal, middle, and distal sections were subjected to computerized morphometric analysis. Vein grafts were characterized by a high mean pressure (VG-4, 51 +/- 4; VG-12, 62 +/- 3 mm Hg), low mean flow (VG-4, 17 +/- 1; VG-12, 16 +/- 4 ml/min), large luminal area (VG-4, 19.7 +/- 2.4; VG-12, 19.3 +/- 3.9 mm2), high wall tension (VG-4, 17.0 +/- 1.5; VG-12, 19.5 +/- 2.4 x 10(3) dyne/cm), low shear stress (VG-4, 0.75 +/- 0.13; VG-12, 0.96 +/- 0.38 dyne/cm2), and a high degree of myointimal thickening (VG-4, 5.89 +/- 0.90; VG-12, 4.72 +/- 0.83 mm2). Arteriovenous fistulas were characterized by a low mean pressure (AVF-4, 5 +/- 1, AVF-12, 6 +/- 2 mm Hg), elevated blood flow (AVF-4, 82 +/- 16; AVF-12, 82 +/- 17 ml/min), small luminal area (AVF-4, 2.43 +/- 0.58; AVF-12, 7.14 +/- 2.68), low wall tension (AVF-4, 0.62 +/- 0.19; AVF-12, 0.89 +/- 0.24 x 10(3) dyne/cm), elevated shear stress (AVF-4, 108 +/- 32; AVF-12, 71 +/- 50 dyne/cm2), and decreased myointimal area (AVF-4, 1.18 +/- 0.26; AVF-12, 1.90 +/- 0.55 mm2). The addition of outflow obstruction to AVFs (AVFobs) resulted in elevated pressure (48 +/- 2 mm Hg), decreased flow (17 +/- 4 ml/min), larger luminal area (8.71 +/- 2.31 mm2), elevated wall tension (10.3 +/- 1.7 x 10(3) dyne/cm), and a degree of myointimal thickening approaching that of vein grafts (3.79 +/- 0.66 mm2).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)