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Ultrastructural Analysis of an in Vitro Endothelialized PTFE Graft: Presence of Viable Endothelium Five Months Following Graft Implantation

A Case Report

Department of Surgery University of Vienna Spitalgasse 23 1090 Wien, Austria

Heinrich Magometschnigg, M.D.

Department of Surgery University of Vienna Spitalgasse 23 1090 Wien, Austria

Martin Grabenwöger, M.D.

Department of Surgery University of Vienna Spitalgasse 23 1090 Wien, Austria

Martin Vodrazka, M.D.

Department of Surgery University of Vienna Spitalgasse 23 1090 Wien, Austria

Ernst Wolner, M.D.

Department of Surgery University of Vienna Spitalgasse 23 1090 Wien, Austria

A sixty-four-year-old man underwent aortoprofundal reconstruction for occlusive vascular disease. Prior to graft implantation, autologous endothelial cells were harvested and cultivated for twenty-five days and used to seed an 8 mm polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) prosthesis in vitro. Following implantation of the seeded prosthesis the patient had an uneventful postoperative course and was discharged from the hospital fourteen days after the procedure.

Five months later, a second surgical procedure was performed for progressive occlusive disease in the femoral artery. At this operation, femoropopliteal reconstruction was performed using autologous saphenous vein. The proximal anastomosis was constructed 5 cm above the distal end of the previously inserted, endothelialized aortoprofundal graft. A piece of the aortoprofundal graft, removed during the second operation, was examined by electron microscopy This revealed complete coating of the inner graft surface with viable endothelial cells.

The authors believe their findings significant, since they could demonstrate adherence of viable endothelial cells on the inner surface of a PTFE prosthesis five months after implantation.

Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Vol. 28, No. 3, 205-211 (1994)
DOI: 10.1177/153857449402800307


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