Biomaterial Database

Surgical recanalization of occluded peripheral arteries. 1992

R J Stoney, and R W Thompson, and N A Nelken

Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco.

This article, reflecting on the surgical recanalization of occluded peripheral arteries, has exposed the very essence of vascular surgery. Only the pioneering cardiac anomalies repaired by Gross (patent duct arteriosus, 1938), Blalock and Taussig (tetralogy of Fallot, 1944), and Crafoord and Nylin (coarctation, 1945) and the legendary aortic grafting operations of Oudot (occlusion, 1950) and Dubost and coworkers (aneurysm, 1951) are not a part of this article. The contributions to surgical recanalization of the occluded peripheral arteries are numerous. Some are well conceived, and others are innovative. Perhaps the most significant technique of all, endarterectomy itself, began purely as a serendipitous event. The startling impact of dos Santos' revolutionaly "disobliteration" was realized at once. Intimal injury during the operation did not cause inevitable thrombosis, as historically taught. Thus, all vascular interventions, either endarterectomy, graft repair, or the newer endovascular techniques discussed in this issue, would not have been developed without the understanding of the tolerance of the human intima to injury. Thromboendarterectomy, the basis of surgical recanalization of occluded arteries, unlocked the mystery of arterial rethrombosis after intervention. Recognizing these crucial facts, it will have a lasting place in the expanded discipline of vascular disease and its treatment. Dos Santos, the European founder of endarterectomy, and Wylie, the American pioneer and proponent of endarterectomy, were great friends in life (Fig. 4) and would certainly be pleased to see the further development of technology aimed at the treatment of atherosclerotic obstruction of the peripheral arteries.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D004691	Endarterectomy	Surgical excision, performed under general anesthesia, of the atheromatous tunica intima of an artery. When reconstruction of an artery is performed as an endovascular procedure through a catheter, it is called ATHERECTOMY.	Thromboendarterectomy,Endarterectomies,Thromboendarterectomies
D005060	Europe	The continent north of AFRICA, west of ASIA and east of the ATLANTIC OCEAN.	Northern Europe,Southern Europe,Western Europe
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001157	Arterial Occlusive Diseases	Pathological processes which result in the partial or complete obstruction of ARTERIES. They are characterized by greatly reduced or absence of blood flow through these vessels. They are also known as arterial insufficiency.	Arterial Obstructive Diseases,Arterial Occlusion,Arterial Obstructive Disease,Arterial Occlusions,Arterial Occlusive Disease,Disease, Arterial Obstructive,Disease, Arterial Occlusive,Obstructive Disease, Arterial,Occlusion, Arterial,Occlusive Disease, Arterial
D014481	United States	A country in NORTH AMERICA between CANADA and MEXICO.
D016491	Peripheral Vascular Diseases	Pathological processes involving any one of the BLOOD VESSELS in the vasculature outside the HEART.	Peripheral Angiopathies,Vascular Diseases, Peripheral,Diseases, Peripheral Vascular,Angiopathies, Peripheral,Angiopathy, Peripheral,Disease, Peripheral Vascular,Peripheral Angiopathy,Peripheral Vascular Disease,Vascular Disease, Peripheral
D049672	History, 19th Century	Time period from 1801 through 1900 of the common era.	19th Century History,19th Cent. History (Medicine),19th Cent. History of Medicine,19th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 19th Century,History of Medicine, 19th Cent.,History, Nineteenth Century,Medical History, 19th Cent.,Medicine, 19th Cent.,19th Cent. Histories (Medicine),19th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 19th (Medicine),Cent. History, 19th (Medicine),Century Histories, 19th,Century Histories, Nineteenth,Century History, 19th,Century History, Nineteenth,Histories, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 19th Century,Histories, Nineteenth Century,History, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Nineteenth Century Histories,Nineteenth Century History
D049673	History, 20th Century	Time period from 1901 through 2000 of the common era.	20th Century History,20th Cent. History (Medicine),20th Cent. History of Medicine,20th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 20th Century,History of Medicine, 20th Cent.,History, Twentieth Century,Medical History, 20th Cent.,Medicine, 20th Cent.,20th Cent. Histories (Medicine),20th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 20th (Medicine),Cent. History, 20th (Medicine),Century Histories, 20th,Century Histories, Twentieth,Century History, 20th,Century History, Twentieth,Histories, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 20th Century,Histories, Twentieth Century,History, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Twentieth Century Histories,Twentieth Century History