PRESERVED SAPHENOUS-VEIN ALLOGRAFTS FOR VASCULAR ACCESS

  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 147  (3) , 385-390
Abstract
Preserved venous allografts were used as an alternate access procedure in 70 patients receiving dialysis during a 3 yr period. The clinical experience with allograft fistulas revealed an extremely high initial patency rate; absence of infection postoperatively and during 3 yr of dialysis; suitability for dialysis a week after implantation, greatly obviating the need for Silastic shunts; a low long-term thrombosis rate and the weakly antigenic allograft veins produced no accelearated rejection of subsequently transplanted kidneys. Surviving patients average 172 dialysis treatments/allograft. Allograft fistulas constituted 45% of the last 100 vascular procedures, an indication of the extent of usage. Microscopic examination of grafts retrieved from patients who died during the late follow-up period demonstrated that structural components of the wall of the vein were still identifiable. Allograft venous fistulas offer dependable, safe vascular access, especially in the infection-prone patient with diabetes who is receiving dialysis treatment. The clinical results of allograft fistulas suggest a major role for this technique in vascular access operations.

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