Arterial reconstruction with a modified collagen tube: a clinical experience

Twenty-one modified bovine grafts were implanted in a variety of arterial reconstructions. Successful clinical results were obtained in 60% of the survivors. Attention is directed, however, to the problems of difficulty in reexplorations, the lack of elasticity, and aneurysm development indigenous to the bovine graft. One infection in this series required graft removal and extra-anatomic bypass. The modified bovine graft represents a major advance in vascular reconstruction, but should not be accepted as the ideal arterial prosthesis.