Traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta. A clinicopathological study.

In a county hospital serving a population of roughly 240,000, the hospital records from the period 1982 to 1987 included 27 patients who presented with traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta. Eighteen patients died instantaneously, one was dead on admission, five died in hospital and three survived operation. Two patients had direct cross clamping of the aorta and Dacron interposition graft soon after admission; both survived.

Four years' results of a prospective, randomized clinical trial comparing polytetrafluoroethylene and modified human umbilical vein for below-knee femoropopliteal bypass.

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) (Gore-Tex) and human umbilical vein (Biograft) arterial grafts were compared for below-knee femoropopliteal bypass grafting in a prospective randomized clinical trial. One hundred five patients (105 limbs) entered the trial. Seventy-six percent suffered from rest pain, ulceration, or gangrene.

Early complications with a new bovine arterial graft (Solcograft-P).

In three separate centers of vascular surgery in Norway, a total of 26 patients underwent implantation of a new bovine arterial graft (Solcograft-P) for femoropopliteal or femorotibial bypass or arterial patch-plasty. Serious complications--graft deterioration and formation of aneurysm or pseudoaneurysm--arose in eight patients, all within 4 months after the implantation. In central Europe only four anastomotic pseudoaneurysms have been reported after about 700 Solcograft implantations, even with longer observation time.