STUDY OF REVASCULARIZATION OF BLOOD VESSEL GRAFTS BY MEANS OF RADIOACTIVE PHOSPHORUS

Abstract

CONSIDERABLE evidence has been accumulated by various observers ¹ concerning the survival of blood vessel grafts, since the early work of Carrel.² It has been shown that both autogenous and homogenous aorta grafts provide satisfactory blood-carrying channels for many months, and perhaps indefinitely. Likewise both homogenous and autogenous grafts of arteries and veins have been used successfully to bridge arterial defects. The percentage of success has been somewhat higher with autogenous than with homogenous grafts. Most observers have reported occasional thrombosis of the grafts regardless of the type employed. Variable factors introduced by methods of storage and preservation of the vascular grafts have been studied extensively.³ The mechanism of revascularization of the graft is not entirely certain. It has been shown that in the process of healing part or all of the elements of the graft are infiltrated with granulation tissue, and that the coats of the vessel