This review is a summary of some useful methods and advances about improving clinical applications to small-diameter vascular grafts in recent years, and it points out the developing orientation of small-diameter vascular grafts in the future.
Bioartificial Organs ; Endothelial Cells ; Endothelium, Vascular ; Tissue Engineering ; Vascular Grafting

We herein report a case of radical nephroureterectomy and replacement of the inferior vena cava (IVC) with ahuman cadaveric aortic graft for a patient with renal pelvis transitional cell carcinoma associated with IVC infiltration. In advanced disease, radical surgery is essential to achieve long-term survival. This case entails the use of another treatment option among the numerous options currently available for the management of patients with advanced renal cancer associated with IVC invasion.
Aorta ; Cadaver ; Carcinoma, Transitional Cell ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms ; Kidney Pelvis ; Transplants ; Vascular Grafting ; Vena Cava, Inferior

Pseudoaneurysm resulting from vascular impingement by an osteochondroma is extremely rare. The authors report on the case of a 16-year-old male who had a brachial artery pseudoaneurysm and vessel rupture associated with a humeral osteochondroma. This case suggests that pseudoaneurysm should be considered for the differential diagnosis in patients with soft tissue masses and a cuspidal osteochondroma located near the neurovascular bundle and recommends Doppler sonography or angiography.
Aneurysm, False ; Angiography ; Brachial Artery ; Cuspid ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Glycosaminoglycans ; Humans ; Male ; Osteochondroma ; Rupture ; Vascular Grafting

BACKGROUND: Intimal hyperplasia is characterized by a proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells in the intimal layer. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is known to suppress smooth muscle cell proliferation. We propose that EGCG may have a protective effect against the development of intimal hyperplasia through the suppression of smooth muscle cell proliferation. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and rat aortic smooth muscle cells (RASMC) were cultured with different concentrations of EGCG, and proliferation and migration speed were measured. In 20 dogs, the autologous jugular veins were interposed into the carotid arteries. For the study group (n=10), the graft was stored for 30 minutes in EGCG solution and 300 mM EGCG was applied to the perivascular space after grafting. After 6 weeks, the intimal and medial thickness was measured. RESULT: The proliferation of RASMC and HUVEC was suppressed with EGCG. The migration of RASMC was suppressed with EGCG, but that of HUVEC was not affected. In the in vivo study, the intimal thickness was thinner in EGCG group than in the control group (p<0.05), but the medial thickness did not show any difference. The intimal/medial thickness ratio was lower in the EGCG group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: EGCG suppresses intimal hyperplasia after vascular grafting, and this may be mediated by prevention of migration and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells. The use of EGCG may offer new therapeutic modality to prevent intimal hyperplasia.
Animals ; Carotid Arteries ; Dogs ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; Hyperplasia* ; Jugular Veins ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; Rats ; Transplants ; Vascular Diseases ; Vascular Grafting*

Arterial thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) causes ischemic symptoms; it is the rarest type, occurring in 5% of all TOS cases. This paper is a case report of a 38-year-old male patient diagnosed with arterial TOS, displaying symptoms of acute critical limb ischemia caused by thromboembolism. Brachial artery of the patient has been diffusely damaged by repeated occurrence of thromboembolism. It was thought to be not enough only decompression of subclavian artery to relieve the symptoms of hand ischemia; therefore, bypass surgery using reversed great saphenous vein was performed.
Adult ; Brachial Artery ; Decompression ; Extremities ; Hand ; Humans ; Ischemia ; Male ; Saphenous Vein ; Subclavian Artery ; Thoracic Outlet Syndrome* ; Thromboembolism ; Vascular Grafting

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the surgical techniques for acute left deep venous thrombosis (LDVT) secondary to left iliac vein compression syndrome (IVCS).

METHODSThirty-six patients with acute LDVT secondary to IVCS received inferior vena cava filter placement, and in 2 of the cases, stent implantation was canceled for acute episode of obsolete DVT. The remaining 34 patients underwent left femoral venotomy for iliofemoral thrombectomy with Fogarty catheter and distal femoral vein thrombus removal by sequential compression of the legs, followed by implantation of stent-graft (2 cases) or bare-metal stents (32 cases) in the left common iliac veins. With routine anticoagulation and thrombolytic treatments, the patients were regularly examined for postoperative blood flow in the affected limb.

RESULTSIn 2 of the cases undergoing bare-metal stent implantation, the residue thrombi were squeezed into the stent by balloon, which was managed subsequently with local thrombolysis. One patient with bare-metal stent implantation received a secondary stenting for posterior stent displacement. Three patients had self-limited bleeding due to decreased serum FBG. Significant improvements were achieved at 3, 6, 30 and 180 days postoperatively in the circumferences of the affected limb (P<0.05) and in the levels of D-dimer (P=0.011), and FBG level showed no significant variations (F=1.163, P=0.345). The total rate of excellent outcomes was 83.3% (26/34) with a total effective rate of 91.2% (31/34) in these cases.

CONCLUSIONSThrombectomy to revascularize the inflow tract and stent implantation to enlarge stenosed iliac veins are key issues in treatment of acute LDVT secondary to IVCS.

Femoral Vein ; surgery ; Humans ; Leg ; pathology ; May-Thurner Syndrome ; complications ; surgery ; Stents ; Thrombectomy ; Vascular Grafting ; Venous Thrombosis ; etiology ; surgery

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Humans ; Hypertension, Portal ; surgery ; Male ; Portal Vein ; surgery ; Vascular Grafting ; methods ; Young Adult

We experienced satisfactory outcomes by synchronously transplanting an artery and vein using an anterolateral thigh flap pedicle between the vascular pedicle and recipient vessel of a flap for scalp reconstruction. A 45-year-old man developed a subdural hemorrhage due to a fall injury. In this patient, the right temporal cranium was missing and the patient had 4x3 cm and 6x5 cm scalp defects. We planned a scalp reconstruction using a latissimus dorsi free flap. Intraoperatively, there was a severe injury to the right superficial temporal vessel because of previous neurosurgical operations. A 15 cm long pedicle defect was needed to reach the recipient facial vessels. For the vascular graft, the descending branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery and two venae comitantes were harvested. The flap survived well and the skin graft was successful with no notable complications. When an interposition graft is needed in the reconstruction of the head and neck region for which mobility is mandatory to a greater extent, a sufficient length of graft from an anterolateral flap pedicle could easily be harvested. Thus, this could contribute to not only resolving the disadvantages of a venous graft but also to successfully performing a vascular anastomosis.
Arteries ; Femoral Artery ; Free Tissue Flaps ; Glycosaminoglycans ; Head ; Hematoma, Subdural ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Neck ; Scalp ; Skin ; Skull ; Thigh ; Transplants ; Vascular Grafting ; Veins

PURPOSE: Reconstruction of a full thickness defect of the nose is a difficult task for plastic surgeons because the anatomical characteristic, shape, and function of the nose all need to be taken into consideration. Most often, a local flap or a composite graft is used, but for a large defect, reconstruction using free flaps is the most ideal method. In free flap reconstruction, the chondrocutaneous preauricular area can be a suitable donor site. We performed a chondrocutaneous preauricular free flap with an interpositional vascular graft for reconstruction of a nasal ala. METHODS: A 46 year-old male presented to the hospital with a right alar deformity induced by a dog bite. During the surgery, the existing scar tissue was removed and thereby a newly formed full thickness defect was reconstructed using the chondrocutaneous preauricular free flap with an interpositional vascular graft harvested from the descending branch of the lateral femoral circumflex vessel between the facial and superficial temporal vessels of the free flap. RESULTS: The flap survived without flap loss and showed symmetry in its overall shape, contour, texture, and color. The patient was satisfied with the results and the surgery yielded no additional scars at the nasolabial fold area. CONCLUSION: The chondrocutaneous preauricular free flap is a valuable method in reconstruction of full thickness defects of the nose, and using the descending branch of the lateral femoral circumflex vessel as the interpositional vascular graft at the anastomotic site produces reliable results.
Animals ; Bites and Stings ; Cicatrix ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Dogs ; Free Tissue Flaps ; Glycosaminoglycans ; Humans ; Male ; Nasolabial Fold ; Nose ; Nose Deformities, Acquired ; Succinates ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants ; Vascular Grafting

OBJECTIVETo analyze the trends in treatments of lower extremity peripheral arterial disease and their prognosis in the recent 10 years.

METHODSClinical data of inpatients with lower extremity peripheral arterial disease who received surgical treatments in Xuanwu Hospital from January 2002 to December 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. Patients were stratified into two groups (group 1: from 2002 to 2006, group 2: from 2007 to 2011). The demographics, risk factors, clinical presentation, lesion anatomy, therapies, limb salvage and survival were observed. χ(2) test, Fisher exact test, and t test were used to compare the data between the two groups.

RESULTSFrom 2002 to 2006, 170 limbs (47.49%) underwent conventional bypass surgery, 72 limbs (20.11%) underwent endovascular interventions and the rest 116 limbs (32.40%) received stem cell treatment. While from 2007 to 2011, the percentages were 18.49%, 68.73%, 8.27%, respectively. Furthermore, gene-based drug appeared, 67 limbs (4.51%) underwent the new treatment. Former group had decreased limb salvage rates compared with latter group (87.15% vs. 93.41%, χ(2)=15.71, P=0.000). However, survival rates did not differ from the two groups (84.67% vs. 84.31%, χ(2)=0.02, P=0.880).

CONCLUSIONWith the appearance of new medical instruments and operating methods, the percentage of the patients with lower extremity peripheral arterial disease receive endovascular interventions increases, with a improved limb salvage rates.

Humans ; Ischemia ; Limb Salvage ; Lower Extremity ; pathology ; Peripheral Arterial Disease ; diagnosis ; surgery ; therapy ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Stem Cell Transplantation ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome ; Vascular Grafting ; Vascular Patency