Which Gelatin and Antibiotic Should Be Chosen to Seal a Woven Vascular Graft?

Among the vascular prostheses used for aortic replacement, 95% are woven or knitted grafts from polyester fibers. Such grafts require sealing, for which gelatin (Gel) is most often used. Sometimes antibiotics are added to the sealant.

[Hybrid treatment of Kommerell diverticulum and giant aneurysm of intra-thoracic segment of aberrant left subclavian artery].

Kommerell's diverticulum causes compression of the esophagus, trachea and laryngeal nerve between the aberrant mouth of the left subclavian artery and ascending aorta. This leads to dysphagia or shortness of breath. We describe hybrid treatment of the right aortic arch with Kommerell's diverticulum and giant aneurysm of the aberrant left subclavian artery.

[Quo vadimus? Fundamental problems of developing hybrid prostheses of thoracic aorta].

This article is a review briefly characterizing the state of the art of hybrid surgery of the thoracic aorta using the frozen elephant trunk technique worldwide and in Russia, also discussing unsolved problems of fundamental science, being key issues in creation of new models of hybrid prostheses of the thoracic aorta. The main attention is paid to the problem of radial stiffness of the stent-graft portion of the prosthesis. Performed is a detailed analysis of the factors influencing this characteristic of the sent graft: shape, size and number of cells of the stent element, thickness of the nitinol wire it is made of, method of edge connection, nitinol properties depending on the alloy grade and methods of thermoforming.

[Hybrid grafts for aortic arch reconstruction: evolution and state of the art].

The analysis of the gained experience in treatment of patients with pathology of the arch and descending portion of the aorta is suggestive that the 'frozen elephant trunk' technique is an effective and safe method. In this connection, there is an increasing need for universal hybrid devices characterized by ease of use and durability in various aortic pathologies. Discussed in the article is the state of the art of the technology of treatment of patient with aortic arch pathology by means of hybrid grafts, followed by comparative analysis of currently used vascular hybrid prostheses, and although none of the hybrid grafts available worldwide is either universal or ideal, the grafts for the 'frozen elephant trunk' procedure continue to be improved, which will inevitably lead to wide implementation of this technique.