In situ revascularisation with silver-coated polyester prostheses and arterial homografts in patients with aortic graft infection--a prospective, comparative, single-centre study.

The aim of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness of in situ revascularisation with the use of arterial homografts and silver-coated prostheses in the treatment of aortic graft infection. A total of 77 consecutive patients (74 males, three females, mean age: 58 years), hospitalised between 2001 and 2008, were enrolled into the study. Patients were assigned to three groups: group 1 (n = 24)--fresh arterial homograft with subsequent immunosuppression, group 2 (n = 26)--fresh arterial homograft without immunosuppression and group 3 (n = 27)--silver-coated prosthesis. The course of infection was assessed by scintigraphy with (99m)Technetium-labelled leucocytes, Duplex-Doppler ultrasound, angio-computed tomography (CT) and microbiological examination. The mean follow-up was 22.8 (±10.1) months. There was a significant decrease in leucocyte accumulation around the graft among all groups (group 1: p = 0.012, group 2: p = 0.006 and group 3: p = 0.021). The postoperative mortality rate in groups 1,2 and 3 was 8%, 23% and 11%, respectively. The postoperative morbidity was 35% in group 2, 16% in group 1 and 7% in group 3. Our study suggests that silver-coated prostheses can be as effective as arterial allografts in the treatment of infections of vascular prostheses.