Platelet activation by healing ePTFE grafts.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the in vivo maturing ePTFE graft surface on platelet activation. Ten canines were randomized to receive either a carotid to infrarenal aorta ePTFE graft or sham operation. Animals were sampled at specific time points up to 3 months postoperatively.

The effect of microvascular anastomosis configuration on initial platelet deposition.

The propensity for platelets to bind at a native vessel anastomosis is thought to be related to subendothelial exposure, the presence of suture material, and local flow disturbances. By using an artificial microvascular graft to artificial microvascular graft anastomosis model that mimics the geometry and topography of a native microvascular anastomosis but which eliminates the endothelial and subendothelial contributions, the influence of the normal anastomotic configuration alone on initial platelet deposition was measured. Anastomotic and immediate downstream platelet deposition was not augmented by the presence of the anastomotic configuration alone.

Initial platelet deposition at the human microvascular anastomosis: effect on downstream platelet deposition to intact and injured vessels.

Initial platelet deposition (PD) in and around the region of a small-vessel anastomosis may set the stage for thrombosis and tissue loss. To study this problem, a human vessel model (human placental artery, HPA) has been designed to mimic the vascular injuries attendant on clinical microsurgery. To perform these studies, dissected lengths of human placental artery were treated to provide the following four types of injury: group I: control, dissected but otherwise uninjured (N = 5); group II: distal portion of vessel endothelium removed (N = 5); group III: central anastomosis, distal endothelium intact (N = 7); and group IV: central anastomosis, distal endothelium removed (N = 4).

Experimental determination of velocity profiles and wall shear rate along the rabbit aortoiliac bifurcation: relationship to vessel wall low-density lipoprotein (LDL) metabolism.

We have determined the velocity profiles and wall shear rates along the New Zealand White (NZW) rabbit aortoiliac bifurcation. A pulsatile perfusion apparatus was used to impose physiologic pressure and flow waveforms on nine freshly excised NZW bifurcation segments. Pulsed Doppler velocimetry (PDV) was utilized to construct velocity profiles at five measurement sites: within the infrarenal aorta; immediately distal to the apex of the bifurcation; and, more distally along the iliac arteries.

Vasospasm and platelet deposition in human arteries: effects of topical methylene blue.

Vasodilation of small blood vessels is controlled in part by the endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF), which also inhibits platelet adhesion. Methylene blue (MB), which is occasionally applied directly to blood vessels during microsurgery to provide orientation and prevent torsion, is an irreversible inhibitor of the effects of endothelium-derived relaxing factor and may thereby augment both vasospasm and platelet responses. We have investigated the effects of the extravascular adventitial application of methylene blue on platelet deposition to human placental arteries (HPA) in the presence and absence of surgically induced vasospasm.