Vascular grafts derived from acellular tissue matrices
A vascular graft for treatment of diseased or damaged blood vessels is disclosed. The graft comprises a sheet of acellular tissue matrix with an intact basement membrane. The graft is formed by wrapping the sheet into a tube and securing the edges of the sheet together. The acellular tissue matrix facilitates tissue ingrowth and remodeling of the graft with host cells.
1. A vascular graft, comprising:
an anticoagulant;
a tubular conduit having a lumen for the passage of blood therethrough wherein the tubular conduit consists essentially of a single sheet of dermal acellular tissue matrix having a basement membrane, the basement membrane disposed along an inner surface of the lumen and the single sheet forming a single layer wall around the lumen; and
an adhesive comprising fibrinogen attaching a first longitudinal edge of the acellular tissue matrix to a second longitudinal edge of the acellular tissue matrix to form a fluid-tight seam extending along a length of the vascular graft.
2. The vascular graft of claim 1 , wherein attaching the first and the second longitudinal edges with the adhesive creates a longitudinal ridge protruding from an abluminal surface of the tubular wall.
3. The vascular graft of claim 1 , wherein the first and the second longitudinal edges are attached using a combination of sutures and the adhesive.
4. The vascular graft of claim 1 , wherein the dermal matrix is derived from human skin.
5. The vascular graft of claim 1 , wherein the acellular tissue matrix is derived from tissue that is xenogeneic to a human recipient.
6. The vascular graft of claim 5 , wherein the tissue is from an 1,3-galactosyltransferase (α1,3GT) deficient pig.
7. The vascular graft of claim 1 , wherein the acellular tissue matrix is derived from tissue that is allogeneic to a human recipient.
8. The vascular graft of claim 1 , wherein the anticoagulant comprises heparin.