Abstract
Objectives: There are few reports which compare the different sealed woven types of vascular prosthesis in cases with total arch replacement (TAR). In this article, we compared various perioperative data in patients who underwent TAR using two types of sealed woven vascular prostheses, J graft SHIELD NEO® or Gelweave®. Methods: From January 2008 to December 2010, 25 consecutive patients underwent TAR using J graft SHIELD NEO® (10 cases) or Gelweave® (15 cases) for thoracic aortic aneurysm or dissecting aneurysm, performed by a single surgeon in our institution. We retrospectively compared various perioperative data statistically between the two groups. Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of preoperative condition, comorbidity, surgical procedure, mortality or morbidity. However, postoperative drain discharge from the pericardium (P=0.003) and CRP score on the postoperative 7th day (P=0.003) were significantly higher in the group receiving the J graft SHIELD NEO®. Conclusion: We found significant differences between the two groups in terms of postoperative drain discharge or CRP score. However, there were no differences in the reoperation rates due to bleeding or surgical site infection including mediastinitis or any other inflammatory complication. We have to collect more data to identify whether the differences we identified in this study is meaningful or not.
