The use of bovine pericardium for complex urologic venous reconstruction

To describe the use of bovine pericardium (BP) in several scenarios for venous patching and as a tubularized graft in urologic surgery.

BP was used as patch or tubularized graft in 7 patients between 2010 and 2013. Clinical scenarios and operative indications were reviewed. We used BP as a patch graft for the inferior vena cava (IVC) (N = 3) and for the iliac venous system (N = 1) to restore venous outflow. Tubularized grafts were used (N = 2) to replace the left renal vein in oncology procedures and during renal autotransplantation (N = 1). Surgical technique is reviewed in detail.

We used BP as a venous patching in 4 cases and as a tubularized graft in 3 cases. There was no evidence of venous thrombosis of the replaced system with a mean of 14.8 months (range, 9-26) follow-up.

The use of BP as a patch or tubularized graft is an option for complicated urologic venous reconstruction. Although the follow-up interval is relatively short and this initial series small, our initial results are promising.