The use of
stent grafts for
endovascular aortic repair has become an important treatment option for
aortic aneurysms requiring surgery. This treatment has achieved excellent outcomes; however, problems like type 1
endoleaks and
stent graft migration remain. Bio
stent grafts (BSGs), which are self-expanding
stents covered with connective tissue, were previously developed using "in-body tissue architecture" technology. We assessed their early adaptation to the aorta after transcatheter implantation in a beagle model. BSGs were prepared by subcutaneous embedding of acryl rods mounted with self-expanding
nitinol stents in three beagles for 4 weeks (n = 3/dog). The BSGs were implanted as allografts into infrarenal abdominal aortas via the femoral artery of three other beagles. After 1 month of implantation, aortography revealed no
stenosis or aneurysmal changes. The
luminal surface of the BSGs was completely covered with neointimal tissue, including endothelialization, without any
thrombus formation. The cover tissue could fuse the
luminal surface of the native aorta with tight conjunctions even at both ends of the
stents, resulting in complete impregnation of the strut into the reconstructed vascular wall, which is expected to prevent
endoleaks and migration in clinical applications.