Early and late comparison of umbilical vein and PTFE grafts in control and piroxicam-treated dogs.

For comparative analysis of small vessel prostheses, 78 dogs underwent femoral artery replacement with autogenous vein, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or human umbilical vein (HUV) grafts. Thirty-six animals received antiplatelet therapy with piroxicam orally once a day. Three-hour deposition of 111In-labeled platelets was less on HUV than on PTFE grafts but still greater than on autogenous vein grafts. Accordingly, 3-hour patency rates were lowest with PTFE and highest with autogenous vein, although the difference between HUV and PTFE grafts was not statistically significant. One month following implantation, PTFE grafts had a higher patency rate than HUV grafts (p less than 0.05). Treatment with piroxicam decreased 3-hour platelet deposition, improved 1-month patency of both PTFE (p less than 0.05) and HUV (p less than 0.01) grafts, and decreased pseudointimal thickening on PTFE grafts (p less than 0.01). This experimental study did not demonstrate any clearcut difference in the performance of PTFE and HUV grafts. Piroxicam treatment improved the results with both grafts, which would justify future clinical trials with this simple antiplatelet regimen.