Glutaraldehyde-tanned ovine collagen conduits as vascular xenografts in dogs: a preliminary report.

Collagen tubes grown in sheep around Silastic mandrils were tanned in neutral, buffered glutaraldehyde and deployed as arterial xenografts in the aorta of dogs. The grafts maintained patency for up to three years and did not show any signs of aneurysmal dilation or luminal narrowing. The lumen became lined with a neointima, and host collagen was deposited around the periphery so that the thickness of the wall of the graft approximated that of the aorta.