Permanent Intubation of the Thoracic Aorta

In a previous article I it was shown that a segment of vein could be grafted successfully on the thoracic aorta. While this procedure migh~ prove to be the ideal treatment of aneurysms on peripheral arteries, the extirpation of the aneurysmal sac and the transplanta-tion of a vascular segment upon the thoracic aorta would be complicated and dangerous. I have attempted, therefore, to determine the proper technique for intubating the aorta, as this operation is simpler and may prove more satisfactory than grafting. The idea of introducing a tube into the lumen of a vessel is not original. In fact paraffined glass tubes are used in all physiological laboratories for securing an artificial circulation of blood, and the same method has been applied successfully by Brewer to the transfusion of blood in human beings. Some years ago Abbe tried to effec* a permanent anastomosis between the cut ends of an artery by means of a glass tube. He presented at the Academy of Medicine of New York a cat in which he had cut the abdominal aorta and had united the ends of the vessel by a glass tube. In other cases coagu-lation of the blood took place after a short time. It appeared therefore that even if a foreign body could be put temporarily in a vessel without accident, thrombosis would occur sooner or later. Nevertheless, it was conceivable that thrombosis was preventable, and that the conditions under which a foreign body could be used for repairing a vessel might be ascertained. I extirpated, therefore, part o~f the anterior 'wall of the abdominal aorta of a dog, and replaced it by a piece of rubber covered with vaselin. Fifteen months after the operation, the circulation was still normal.