A fibrous polyurethane microvascular prosthesis. Morphological evaluation of the neo-intima.

A fibrous polyurethane microvascular prosthesis with an inner diameter of 1.5 mm was implanted to replace the rat aorta between the left renal artery and the bifurcation of the aorta. Twenty-four implantations, using three different lengths (0.5; 1; 1.5 cm), were carried out. Rats were sacrificed 3, 6, 9 and 12 weeks after implantation. Only 1 prosthesis was occluded (probably due to a technical error). Grafts were already lined with a neo-intima by the third week, irrespective of their length. Different shapes of endothelial cells were recognized. It appeared that cells arise and migrate from the aortic stumps into the prosthesis, since the neo-intima is thicker in the anastomotic area than in the middle of the graft. The well-defined neo-intima consisted of several layers of smooth muscle cells embedded in a glycoprotein matrix and covered by a very flat continuous endothelium. The structure of the prosthesis allowed anchoring of the lining cells. Migration of cells through the wall of the prosthesis was not observed. At those places in the prosthesis where fibres had fused together to form flat areas the neo-intima became torn by the contraction of the myofibroblasts. This was because the cells had evidently failed to become anchored to the prosthetic wall. The neo-intima retained the ability of immediate repair of small defects which develop occasionally on the non-fibrous areas of the luminal surface of the prosthesis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)