ABDOMINAL ANEURYSM WRAPPING WITH POLYVINYL FORMAL SPONGE

Abstract

IN A RECENT report, Grindlay and Waugh¹ suggested the use of polyvinyl-formal plastic sponge² to reinforce abdominal aortic aneurysms and reported its use in four cases. Since one of us had been working both experimentally and clinically with this material in thoracic plombage,³ we were acquainted with its chemical and physical properties, as well as tissue response to its implantation. It appeared to us that there was considerable merit in this conception of its use. Our opinion was based primarily on the following two factors: (1) the moistened sponge is soft and would not be likely to effect a pressure necrosis of the aneurysm wall, and (2) the sponge, though generally inert, produces a low-grade foreign body response in tissues, consisting essentially of granulation tissue with an occasional foreign body giant cell. Accordingly, in view of the generally unsatisfactory nature of available therapeutic measures for this condition,