Experimental studies on improved polyester-polyurethane vascular grafts for hemodialysis.

A new poly(ether-urethane) graft (PEUG) was developed. Although this graft had several advantages, it became clear that it also had disadvantages, such as the formation of pseudoaneurysms by repeated puncture. To overcome these problems, the PEUG was modified to add mechanical strength by incorporating knitted polyester fibers. Physical strength tests were done, and it was concluded that the graft was more durable than either PEUG or expanded polytetrafluorethylene. Additional experiments showed that gelatin coated PEUG implanted in dogs facilitated endothelialization of the internal surface and improved its patency, although these observations were too short to draw any definitive conclusions.