A Comparative Study of Saphenous Vein, Internal Jugular Vein, and Knitted Dacron Patches for Carotid Artery Endarterectomy

To determine whether the choice of material used for patch closure following carotid artery endarterectomy (CAE) affected the immediate operative results, the early follow-up results, or the incidence of early restenosis, a retrospective study of 275 consecutive carotid endarterectomies by two vascular surgeons was performed. Among 275 primary CAEs performed between July 1991 and August 1993, 159 (57.8%) were closed with saphenous vein (SV), 25 (9.1%) with double-thickness internal jugular vein (JV), and 91 (33.1%) with knitted Dacron (KD). Primary closure was not used in any of the arteries in this series. The overall perioperative mortality rate was 1.1% and the rate of major and minor morbidity was 4.4%. There were four (1.5%) perioperative strokes: two (1.3%) in the SV group, one (4.0%) in the JV group, and one (1.1%) in the KD group. Two-hundred fifty-eight (93.8%) of the 275 endarterectomies were followed postoperatively for 2 to 35 months (mean 14.4). Two-hundred nineteen (79.6%) were evaluated using duplex scans during follow-up with a mean interval of 13.7 months. Of the arteries studied, four (3.6%) in the SV group, none in the JV group, and six (8.4%) in the KD group demonstrated restenosis of > 50% at the time of follow-up (NS). In addition, one (0.9%) artery in the SV group, one (5.6%) in the JV group, and none in the KD group demonstrated complete occlusion. Retrospective analysts of the data showed no statistically significant differences in perioperative morbidity, mortality, or early postoperative restenosis whether the artery was closed with saphenous vein, jugular vein, or knitted Dacron patches. Longer follow-up is needed to determine whether rates of late restenosis and aneurysmal dilatation will differ between synthetic and autologous patches.