Surgical management of an infected external iliac artery interposition graft with a bioengineered human acellular vessel

Abstract

Infection of prosthetic vascular grafts can manifest as pain, pseudoaneurysms, or arterial insufficiency in the leg. We present the case of a female patient with a medical history of a right external iliac artery endofibrosis, with a persistently infected synthetic iliofemoral bypass graft, which we replaced with a bioengineered human acellular vessel. At the 12-month follow-up visit, the clinical and radiologic studies demonstrated adequate human acellular vessel patency, with no signs of infection, stenosis, or pseudoaneurysm. Subsequent to the initiation of hormone therapy and cessation of antiplatelet therapy, the patient developed graft thrombosis. She continued to do well after restoration of patency with lytic therapy. At 22 months, secondary patency has been maintained with continued anticoagulation therapy, and the patient has remained asymptomatic.

Keywords

• Bioengineered human acellular vessel
• Biologic graft
• Infected vascular graft
• Vascular bypass