Cor Vasa 2005, 46(1):10-13
Microscopic study of vascular allografts
- 1 Oddělení cévní chirurgie, Nemocnice Na Homolce, Praha
- 2 Ústav anatomie, Lékařská fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, Hradec Králové, Česká republika
Aims:
The aim of our study was to investigate the time course of structural degeneration of arterial and venous allografts during storage in E-199 medium at two different temperature conditions, reflecting real circumstances in vascular surgery. We tried to assess the safe time interval with minimal damage to the vascular wall.
Methods:
Samples of human veins and arteries were obtained during multiorgan harvesting. They were stored in E-199 medium either (1) at normothermy/hypothermy (+37 °C for 24 hours, then cooled to +4 °C), or (2) at hypothermy (+4 °C since harvesting). Both arterial and venous samples were taken pairwise from preservation solution at selected time intervals to compare each other by light and scanning electron microscopy.
Results:
Initial dystrophic changes were noted on days 2-3 under normothermic/hypothermic conditions, and on days 4-6 under hypothermic conditions. Arterial grafts were more resistant than venous ones at both temperatures. Initial exposure of the endothelium to physiological temperature accelerates the onset of degenerative changes in both arteries and veins.
Conclusions:
In our opinion, we consider the use of arterial allografts at last on day 6 while venous ones on days 4-5 of hypothermic (+4 °C) preservation in E-199 medium the best.
Keywords: Arterial and venous allografts; E-199 medium; Microscopic study; Multiorgan harvesting; Initial dystrophic changes; Hypothermy
Published: January 1, 2005 Show citation