Autogenous Vein Grafts and Teflon Grafts as Small Vessel Prostheses

Introduction This study was prompted by the increasing need to find suitable replacement for vital arteries with a diameter of 6 mm. or less. Now that satisfactory prostheses have been developed for arteries of a greater caliber, a continued search must go on to find protheses which will satisfactorily replace segments of arteries such as the internal carotid, hepatic, mesenteric, and peripheral arteries of the extremities. These vessels are of such importance that they warrant grafting whenever possible, even though the incidence of successful grafting decreases markedly with vessels less than 9 mm. in diameter. The femoral artery of adult mongrel dogs was selected for replacement as this vessel measures approximately 4 or 5 mm. in external diameter. Because of the superficial position of this vessel, the patency of the graft could be easily followed by palpation. Autogenous vein grafts were used for several reasons. 1. The results obtained by