THE USE of homogenous arterial grafts in the aorta has been demonstrated to be practical both experimentally and clinically for periods up to at least two years.1 Previous communications from our laboratory have described the fate of experimental preserved aortic grafts and the clinical use of this technique in the resection of a thoracic aortic aneurysm.2 Experimentally, smaller arterial transplants were recently investigated and found to function effectively as conduits for blood.3 The method, therefore, appears to offer the possibility of enlarging the scope of operative procedures for lesions involving peripheral arteries.
Several such possibilities come at once to mind. In localized inflammatory, degenerative or traumatic conditions of important peripheral arteries, the ability to perform resection followed by insertion of a replacement for the diseased segment should solve many of the current difficulties in the treatment of arterial aneurysm, arteriovenous fistula and acute traumatic injury of crucial