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 method of using a vascular graft to treat blood vessels, comprising:
selecting a blood vessel; and
securing a vascular graft to the blood vessel, the vascular graft comprising:
an anticoagulant;
a tubular conduit comprising a tubular wall, the tubular wall defining a lumen for the passage of blood therethrough; and
wherein the tubular wall comprises an acellular tissue matrix having a basement membrane, the basement membrane forming a luminal surface of the tubular wall.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising 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.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the first and second longitudinal edges are attached with an adhesive.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the adhesive comprises fibrinogen.
5 . The method of claim 3 , 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.
6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising treating the vascular graft with growth factors that promote tissue remodeling.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the basement membrane of the sheet is treated with anti-thrombotic agents.
8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the basement membrane of the sheet is treated with anti-calcification agents.
9 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the first and the second longitudinal edges are attached using a combination of sutures and the adhesive.
10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising sizing the acellular tissue matrix to correspond to the wall thickness of the selected blood vessel.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the acellular tissue matrix is dermal acellular tissue matrix.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the dermal acellular tissue matrix is derived from human skin.
13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the dermal acellular tissue matrix is derived from tissue that is xenogeneic to a human recipient.
14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the tissue is from an 1,3-galactosyltransferase (α1,3GT) deficient pig.
15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the dermal acellular tissue matrix is derived from tissue that is allogeneic to a human recipient.
16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the anticoagulant comprises heparin.
17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein securing the vascular graft comprises wrapping the acellular tissue matrix around the blood vessel.
18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the vascular graft is wrapped around stenotic or partially occluded segments of the blood vessel.
19 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing diseased portions of the blood vessel.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the vascular graft replaces the stenotic or partially occluded segments of the blood vessel.
21 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the tubular conduit comprises a single sheet of acellular tissue matrix.