Healing pattern of small caliber Dacron grafts in the baboon: An animal model for the study of vascular prostheses

Although dogs have been used widely to study the healing of large caliber synthetic grafts, hypercoagulability probably makes the dog a poor model for studies of small caliber vascular prostheses. The baboon's coagulation system is similar to man's, but large caliber baboon grafts were reported to endothelialize rapidly. In this study the healing pattern of 4mm internal diameter Dacron carotid interpositon grafts in baboons was determined using specimens harvested at time points between 2 weeks and 18 months post‐implantation and examined with light and scanning electron microscopy. The luminal surface of baboon grafts in the acute healing phase (