Crimped knitted Dacron grafts are commonly employed as arterial substitutes and in most instances have proven to be highly effective and relatively durable. Graft failures have occurred and have usually been associated with serious hemorrhage. Fabrication flows, intraoperative damage to the graft, or biodegradation have been suggested as causes of graft failure. In this study three aortic grafts failed, each apparently from a different cause and each presented in a different fashion. Although the exact cause of graft failure in these three cases could not be ascertained it appeared that one was due to a fabrication flow, one due to generalized loss of tensile strength, and the third due to deterioration of only a portion of the fraft. These data suggest that continued search for more suitable plastic prostheses is urgently needed;

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Ischemia-reperfusion and cell membrane dysfunction.

One to 3 hours of partial skeletal muscle ischemia-reperfusion in dogs and rats causes cell membrane depolarization. Intracellular levels of adenosine triphosphate remain normal, suggesting that direct membrane injury rather than electrogenic pump failure occurs. Membrane depolarization can be prevented by superoxide dismutase and catalase, or by neutrophil depletion. Oxygen free radicals may be one type of mediator causing membrane damage, and it appears that leukocytes release these toxic species.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Spinal cord injury following aortorenal bypass.

Spinal cord ischemia following abdominal aortic aneurysmectomy is believed to be caused by hypotension, aortic clamping, division of lumbar arteries, and emboli. In this report a patient underwent aortorenal bypass complicated by temporary urinary and rectal sphincter paralysis appearing four days postoperatively. Angiographic studies suggest that the cord damage was caused by microemboli traversing iliolumbar collateral arteries.

Aorta, Abdominal↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Spontaneous renal artery dissection.

Focal lesions in the renal artery caused by fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) are susceptible to spontaneous intramural dissection, and carry a serious risk of malignant hypertension and loss of renal function. Of four patients with arterial dissection and severe hypertension, nephrectomy was required in two, an aortorenal bypass was constructed in one, and spontaneous re-entry with resolution of malignant hypertension occurred in one man. All except the patient with re-entry became normotensive. Isolated dissections in the renal artery wall in association with FMD apparently occur more often than previously suspected. Since extensive distal dissection may preclude repair, the identification and early surgical treatment of these lesions are important features in managing these patients.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Varicose veins in the lower extremities.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Humans↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Duodenal erosion by aortorenal dacron graft.

Fistulous communications between the bowel and arterial grafts present difficult problems in diagnosis and management. The majority of these cases exhibit retroperitoneal sepsis but in some instances communication between the bowel and the lumen of the arterial graft produces serious hemorrhage. In contrast, the current report describes a patient in whom bleeding occurred twelve years after insertion of an aortorenal graft and the source of bleeding was arterial erosion of an ulcer in the duodenal wall rather than an aortoenteric fistula. Removal of the graft, closure of the ulcer, and nephrectomy were effective in treating the bleeding ulcer and the renovascular hypertension.

Adult↗