Cryopreserved homograft and autologous deep vein replacement for infrarenal aorto and iliaco-femoral graft infection: early and late results.

AIM: The aim of the study was to evaluate the early and late results of aortic replacement using cryopreserved homografts and autologous deep veins for infected infrarenal prosthetic reconstructions and the influence of type of bacteria on the mortality. METHODS: Thirty-three patients were treated from 30 March 1994 to 01 September 2008 for aorto-femoral or iliaco-femoral graft infections with homografts (HG:19) or autologous deep veins (DV:14). The diagnosis was based on physical signs, bacteriological tests and computed tomography(CT) scans. We obtain cryopreserved homografts from our non-profit vessel bank, deep veins were harvested before the arterial reconstruction. Patients were followed by clinical examination and ultrasound. RESULTS: The infections occurred 47.78 ± 20 months after the primary operations; 45% of the infections were caused by Gram-negative bacteria. Treatment indications included seven aortoduodenal fistula (21.2%) and six septic para-anastomotic bleedings (18.2%). There were six in-hospital deaths (18.2%). All the deceased patients had Gram-negative bacteria in cultures and pluribacterial infections. No patient died with single staphylococcus, streptococcus or MRSA infection. At three years freedom from reinfection was 100% in DV group and 82% (CI:0.56-0.92) in the homograft group. Survival after three years was 71% (CI:0.48-0.88) in HG group and 79% (CI:0.49-0.94) in DV group. The difference is not significant. CONCLUSION: For infrarenal graft infection homograft replacement or deep vein implantation is durable method and eradicate late reinfection. The in-hospital mortality is significantly higher in patients with aortoduodenal fistulas with Gram-negative organisms regardless of the conduit used for aortic replacement.