Chronic mesenteric ischemia is usually a manifestation of advanced systemic atherosclerosis. Symptoms almost always reflect midgut ischemia in the distribution of the SMA. An antegrade bypass from the supraceliac aorta can be performed with acceptable operative morbidity and is currently the preferred reconstructive technique. Surgical revascularization affords long-term symptom-free survival in a majority of patients with chronic mesenteric ischemia.

With this delivery system, adenoviral-mediated gene transfer is highly efficient and induced overexpression of DeltaRb leads to a reduction in vein graft neointimal thickening.

An EHD is a unique parameter that quantifies conduit size and has a significant impact on vein graft patency. An EHD less than 3.6 mm portends graft failure.

Intraoperative measurement of integral of ZL in infrainguinal vein grafts is independent of outflow conditions (that is, does not change with papaverine), and hence describes the resistive properties of the conduit only. In addition, these preliminary data suggest that integral of ZL is predictive of short-term primary patency. integral of ZL is the first available hemodynamic measurement that is conduit-specific and may therefore be a better predictor of graft patency than currently available methods.

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Primary arterial neoplasms are rare lesions which have been most frequently associated with local or constitutional symptomatology, and with distal embolization. Perirenal aortic disruption with pseudoaneurysm formation due to an intimal sarcoma adjacent to a previously placed prosthetic graft is reported in a 66-year-old man. This case supports the premise that the presence of a vascular prosthesis might result in the induction of an arterial wall malignancy. This should be considered when an intraluminal mass is identified in the absence of other arterial pathology. Although the prognosis of these tumors is poor, their preoperative recognition may enhance treatment outcomes.

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The superiority of autologous venous conduit for infrainguinal arterial bypass has been well documented, especially when the bypass extends below the knee or to the tibial arteries. Nevertheless, when adequate autologous vein is not available, prosthetic bypasses (eg, polytetrafluoroethylene [PTFE] or Dacron) are often used in limb-salvage situations. The inferior long-term patency of these infrainguinal prosthetic bypasses has been documented by a number of studies. One such study reported a prospective multicenter randomized trial with only a 12% primary patency for infrapopliteal prosthetic bypasses after 4 years. Another study reported a similar experience with infragenicular bypasses with PTFE for limb salvage even for above-knee (27%, 5 year) and below-knee (25%, 5 year) femoral-popliteal bypasses. The reported PTFE graft patency was consistently inferior to that achieved with autologous vein for limb salvage. Dacron grafts appear to have similar patency rates to PTFE. In an attempt to improve prosthetic graft patency, a number of surgical and medical adjuncts have been developed. In this review, the authors discuss these adjuncts and their impact on infrainguinal prosthetic graft patency.