OBJECTIVES Small diameter PTFE grafts are prone to thrombosis and intimal hyperplasia development. Heparin graft coating has beneficial effects but also potential drawbacks. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the experimental efficacy of PEG-hirudin/iloprost coated small caliber PTFE grafts. METHODS Thirty-six femoro-popliteal ePTFE grafts (expanded polytetrafluoroethylene, diameter 4 ...

fluoroethylene (ePTFE) mesh to reinforce the crural hiatal closure in laparoscopic antireflux surgery, has proved to be useful in preventing hiatal hernia recurrence and reducing the risk of postoperative migration of the wrap into the chest [1]. We report the case of a 71-year-old woman who was referred for progressive dysphagia and weight loss 2 years after undergoing Nissen fundoplication wi...

BACKGROUND When used as arteriovenous (AV) shunts for haemodialysis, small diameter expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) grafts have a high failure rate in vivo. Attempts to improve graft patency are various, and focus on either improvement of implantation techniques or graft tissue engineering. The tissue engineering approach attempts to reproduce in grafts the properties of pristine vascu...

BackgroundPostoperative pericardial adhesion formation is a prominent cause of morbidity and death in cardiovascular surgery, but there still no ideal prevention method, especially redo cases. This study investigated novel antiadhesion trilaminar polymeric film compared with the Gore PRECLUDE Pericardial Membrane (W. L. & Associates, Flagstaff, AZ) negative control.MethodsOur membrane composed ...

Spacers, such as FORMA (Edwards Lifescience) or Mitraspacer, are used to treat mitral regurgitation tricuspid regurgitations. However, they require external therapeutic liquid filler injection into the spacer device. This should be leak-tight over time of implantation, which is a major limitation in device design. Here, we propose self-expandable with nitinol inner mesh and expanded poly (tetra...

AIM OF THE STUDY To assess the biological activity of anti-CD34 antibody-coated ePTFE vascular prostheses. MATERIAL AND METHODS Indium(111)-labeled autologous thrombocytes were administered to 5 anesthetized pigs after the placement of femoral arterial and venous catheters. An arterio-venous fistula, created by the random interposition of 4 different ePTFE grafts (A = dry control, B = dry ant...

Every year millions of Americans are affected by cardiovascular and peripheral arterial diseases. When a patient’s own blood vessels are not suitable for surgical intervention, alternative graft sources are necessary. In this study, the lumens of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) conduits were coated with freshly isolated adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF) cells or cultured ...