Collagen and gelatin-impregnated vascular grafts--is their thrombogenicity enhanced? An experimental study.

The early thrombogenicity of dacron vascular grafts with and without impregnation with collagen (n = 7) or gelatin (n = 7) was evaluated in a sheep carotid artery interposition model. Autologous platelets were labelled with 32P and reinjected. Flow was reduced to 25 ml/min to mimic a situation with poor run-off and the graft thrombogenicity was studied for 4 hours. The results showed no difference as regards patency, thrombus-free surface, or uptake of 32P-labelled platelets between collagen- or gelatin-impregnated grafts and their parent dacron grafts. Thus, no difference in early graft thrombogenicity could be documented.