[Experimental study on the mechanism of serum leakage from expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (EPTFE) vascular...

Even in recent years, the Blalock-Taussig (B-T) shunt operation has been carried out in order to increase pulmonary blood flow in patients of low pulmonary flow congenital heart disease. In such a case, a modified B-T shunt using an EPTFE vascular prosthesis would be employed in order to prevent blood flow obstruction in the upper extremity, and occasionally serum leakage from EPTFE vascular prosthesis is a complication. This has often troubled cardiovascular surgeons the world over, and we attempted to elucidate the mechanism of serum leakage and to discover how to prevent the situation from occurring. Using scanning electron microscopy, the structure of EPTFE vascular prosthesis was found to consist of an average of 0.5 micro meter polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fibers arranged in parallel 5.0 micro meters from each other. The reason why serum does not usually leak from these widely spaced fibers is due to the presence of a repellent force derived from the surface tension and the contact angle between the solid surface of PTFE and the liquid. When the contact angle is over 90 degrees, the repellent force is in effect, while when it is below 90 degrees, this force is decreased. The surface tension and contact angle of physiological saline on the surface of PTFE showed values of 71.6 dyn/cm and 114.0 degrees, respectively, while demonstrating a strong repellent force. On the other hand, the surface tension of heparinized blood on the surface of the PTFE was 56.5 dyn/cm and the contact angle was 90.6 degrees. Thus, heparinized blood was assumed to act on the surface of the PTFE with a weak repellent force and for that reason had a tendency to easily leak from the EPTFE vascular prosthesis. When the surface of the PTFE was in contact with blood, blood protein was fixed to the surface of the PTFE and the contact angle of blood was thereby decreased. When the inner pressure of the vascular prosthesis was increased, the wall was stretched easily in a circumferential direction but with great difficulty in a longitudinal direction. With the PTFE stretched and released repeatedly, the expanded circumference was enlarged progressively due to the plastic character of the PTFE and because the spaces between the PTFE fibers were widened. In order to examine the relationship between the space between fibers and the critical pressure leading to serum leakage, computer simulation was carried out and the results showed a reversed linear correlation between the density of the fibers and the minimal pressures responsible for serum leakage.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)