Results with Cryopreserved and Glutaraldehyde-Preserved Allograft Trachea as an Arterial Conduit

Abstract

The authors evaluated rat tracheas as biological arterial conduits. Forty-eight Wistar rats were used; 24 received cryopreserved trachea (CT) and 24 received glutaraldehyde-treated trachea (CT). The homograft tracheas were procured from two-to-three-week old donor Wistar rats. The homograft tracheal grafts were implanted end-to-end in the infrarenal abdominal aorta. The mean aortic cross- clamp time was thirty-three minutes (range twenty-seven to forty minutes). Four animals from each group were evaluated and sacrificed at weeks 1,2,3,6,12, and 24 after implantation. At necropsy, hemodynamic, angiographic, and histopatho logic examinations were performed. In the CT group, 5 animals (20.8%) had aneurysmal changes in the graft, resulting in 2 sudden deaths. In the GT group, all grafts were patent, and there was no incidence of aneurysm formation or abnormal pressure gradients across the grafts. Histopathologic examinations showed that GT had much slower degeneration of the graft. The cross linking of collagen and slow degeneration of cartilage in GT allow time for fibroblastic proliferation to enhance integrity of GT, preventing aneurysm formation. The authors conclude that the structure and function of GT for six months were ex cellent and superior to those of CT and that GT may be useful as arterial grafts.