Does porosity matter?

Patients who had survived at least four years after aortic aneurysmectomy were divided into two groups depending on the prosthesis being of woven or knitted fabric. Such prostheses do not develop an endothelial lining in man, and remain thrombogenic despite their great practical success. A comparison of the persistence versus the loss of palpable pulses distal to the prosthesis, was taken as an index of thrombogenicity and the formation of micro-emboli. There was a statistically significant difference in the persistence of distal pulses in patients with knitted grafts in the 5th, 6th and 7th years of the study, suggesting that such grafts are less prone to thromboembolic activity than the woven prostheses.