Compliant Venous Graft

Abstract

A venous graft for replacement of a section of an artery and methods of making the graft. The graft comprises a flexible, resilient, generally tubular external support and a vein segment carried within and having an ablumenal surface in contact with and supported by the tubular support, the venous graft being capable of resilient radial expansion in a manner mimicking the radial compliance properties of an artery.

1 . A graft comprising a radially-resilient generally tubular support in supportive contact with an ablumenal surface of an implant blood vessel segment for replacing or augmenting a native blood vessel, said support exhibiting a resilient compliance suitable for controlling radial expansion of said implant blood vessel segment to a predetermined extent consistent with normal physiological cyclic stretch of the native vessel. 
     
     
         2 . A graft as in  claim 1  comprising a saphenous vein graft. 
     
     
         3 . A graft as in  claim 2  wherein the native blood vessel is a coronary artery. 
     
     
         4 . A graft as in  claim 1  wherein said resilient compliance is between 3-30%/100 mm Hg. 
     
     
         5 . A graft as in  claim 1  wherein said support is a knit fiber or wire mesh. 
     
     
         6 . A graft as in  claim 5  wherein said knit fiber or wire mesh includes a shape memory alloy metal wire. 
     
     
         7 . A graft as in  claim 5  wherein said support is capable of expanding in diameter through resilient movement of the fibers or wires of the mesh to control radial expansion of said implant blood vessel segment. 
     
     
         8 . A graft as in  claim 5  wherein said fiber or wire mesh is polymeric. 
     
     
         9 . A radially resilient generally tubular support for externally supporting an implant blood vessel segment in replacement or augmentation of a native blood vessel, said support exhibiting a resilient compliance in a manner suitable to provide the implant blood vessel segment with a controlled radial expansion when exposed to an implanted blood circulation pressure through a lumen of the implant blood vessel segment that exceeds a normal blood circulation pressure of the implant blood vessel segment when in its native setting, the controlled radial expansion being consistent with a normal physiological cyclic stretch of the native blood vessel. 
     
     
         10 . A radially-resilient generally tubular support as in  claim 9 , comprising a knit mesh.