Autologous Rectus Fascia as an Arterial Replacement: A Two-Year Experimental Study

ALTHOUGH vascular prostheses enjoy widespread clinical acceptance, 1-8 the application of autologous tissue as arterial substitutes is an appealing concept. The purpose of this study was to reevaluate the use of autologous anterior rectus fascia as an arterial graft with longer periods of observation in order to clarify conflicting results of similar studies previously reported. 9,10 Materials and Methods Healthy mongrel dogs were anesthetized using sodium pentobarbital for veterinary use (Diabutal) administered intravenously in doses of 30 mg/kg of body weight. Through a midline abdominal incision, the skin and subcutaneous tissue were reflected laterally and the anterior rectus fascia was exposed. An appropriate section of this fascia was excised and cleaned of all muscle fibers and connective tissue. The fascial segment was then folded over a catheter stent so that the parietal surface corresponded to the intimal aspect of the tubular graft constructed as shown in Fig 1. Using a