Experimental deep venous replacement.

In altogether 48 adult mongrel dogs of both sexes with body weights between 15 and 25 kg, 3-5 cm long portions of the subrenal inferior vena cava were replaced by different vascular prostheses under intratracheal anaesthesia. During surgery, heparin sodium in an amount of 0.1 ml/kg body weight was administered intravenously to the animals, which was bound at the end of the surgery. In the postoperative period neither anticoagulant therapy measures for the inhibition of platelet aggregation were applied. In half of the experiments a 6-8 mm long arteriovenous fistula was prepared between the femoral artery and the femoral vein which was maintained permanently. The vascular prostheses were either of biological or of synthetic type; in one group within each type, prostheses without external support were implanted, while in the other group the prostheses had an external support.