Thrombosis continues to be a primary cause of acute occlusion of vein grafts. Transposing a vein to the arterial milieu exposes the constituent endothelial and smooth muscle cells to altered biomechanical forces. The increased, pulsatile pressure(P) and flow (Q) and resultant pulsatile wall distension lead to increased and fluctuating shear stress and cyclic stretch. When used as a coronary artery bypass graft, the vein segment is subjected to additional cyclic strains, including twisting andstretching caused by the rhythmic contraction of the heart.We previously showed that human saphenous vein segments exposed to a simulated coronary arterial (COR) environment show an increase in acute thrombogenicity as measured by platelet adhesion. In the present work, we studied the thrombogenicity of porcineinternal jugular veins (PIJV) subjected to simulated COR and peripheral arterial (ART) environments. Further, we investigated the possible biomechanical factors which also lead to changes in vein graft thrombogenicity.
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