Abstract
Compliance is one of the most decisive biomechanical characteristic features of the
graft wall as well as the vessel wall influencing the success of vascular reconstruction.
In the following study we noninvasively investigated graft-arterial compliance alterations
in vivo after surgery with M-mode ultrasound in 99 patients with various graft materials
over an extended follow-up period between 3 months and 10 years.
During a one year period in vivo graft compliance was measured with M-mode ultrasound in 49 implanted bifurcation
grafts and 68 femoropopliteal reconstructions of 99 patients (25 female and 74 male).
For bifurcation grafts Dacron and for femoropopliteal reconstruction either Dacron,
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or autologous saphenous vein were used.
The in vivo compliance of gel-coated Dacron bifurcation grafts and femoropopliteal grafts declined
with increasing time following implantation.
The compliance of bifurcation grafts depended on the patency of the outflow tract.
In case of an occluded superficial femoral artery with main outflow through the deep
femoral artery graft compliance declined about 51% over 5 years after implantation.
In contrast, in case of a patent superficial artery the reduction of graft compliance
was only 37%.
In all femoropopliteal grafts the decrease of graft compliance over 5 years after
implantation depended on the graft material. With a better initial compliance autologous
vein grafts were more compliant at all times in the follow-up in comparison with PTFE
or Dacron grafts.
The ability to measure noninvasively in vivo graft compliance with M-mode ultrasound
may enable to estimate early patency problems and at least graft failure depending
on graft material and time after implantation.
