Results of Research Could Help Thousands

		Surgery Vascular Surgery News Archive Featured in the Media JeffNEWS

Vascular surgeons at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia are developing a novel vascular bypass graft that has the potential of helping thousands of patients, including those suffering with atherosclerosis, a common condition known as “hardening of the arteries.”

Paul DiMuzio, M.D., Assistant Professor of Surgery and Radiology, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, has received grants from the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association to create a novel graft that would bypass blood vessels in the heart and legs clogged by atherosclerosis. Blocked arteries can lead to heart attacks, leg ulcers that do not heal, and even limb loss.

When bypass surgery is required, surgeons usually use the patient’s other non-diseased blood vessels, ones that can be spared such as the saphenous vein, as the bypass graft.

“Unfortunately, the saphenous vein is frequently unavailable for use because it is diseased, too small or previously used for surgery” said Dr. DiMuzio. “Plastic grafts are used instead, but the results are far less favorable.”

The Jefferson vascular surgeon’s goal is to create a new readily-available graft that performs better than the currently used plastic grafts.  Creation of his new graft starts with saphenous vein taken from tissue transplantation donors. Because blood vessel transplants may be rejected by recipients, however, Dr. DiMuzio has developed a novel two-step process to get around this problem.

The new method begins by removing the foreign cells from the donated blood vessels. This leaves a “skeleton” of the vessel which has a much reduced chance of rejection. Second, this blood vessel skeleton is repopulated with the patients own cells to form the new graft.  Dr. DiMuzio is developing new methods use the patient’s own stem cells as a source for graft creation. It is hoped that this new graft will function as well as the patient’s own blood vessels.

For more information about this innovative bypass research or to make an appointment with a Jefferson vascular surgeon, call 1-800-JEFF-NOW.