A mechanical approach to small-diameter vascular grafts development.

F. MONTINI BALLARIN

Natal

Congreso; XVII Brazilian MRS meeting 2018; 2018

Brazilian MRS Society

Still to these days there is a strong need for small-diameter vascular grafts (SDVGs) for long-period implantation [1]. Being natural vessels a tissue that is permanently subjected to pulsatile solicitation, their substitute must mimic their characteristic mechanical response. The only synthetic vascular grafts approved as replacement are stiff and fail mainly due to reocclusion, attributed to intimal hyperplasia at the distal anastomosis. Recent studies have reported a strong correlation between graft mechanical properties and intimal hyperplasia onset and severity. In this sense, dynamic mechanical compliance mismatch between native artery and the artificial graft has been identified as a key determinant of SDVGs success [2]. Despite several studies proving this, there has been little progress in the research and development of SDVGs with biomechanical properties matching the native ones [3]. Natural vessel extracellular matrix components (elastin and collagen) are responsible for its unique mechanical response. The structure of arteries and the relationship between arterial tissue components is becoming the main subject of graft development.Different approaches were addressed, with natural and synthetic polymers. In this presentation, the use of electrospun structures will be presented to achieve successful grafts. The mechanical behavior of synthetic grafts will be compared with the exhibited by human native vessels