ABSTRACT

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. More than 500,000 procedures are performed annually for the repair of small-diameter (≤6 mm) vessels—a number that is steadily increasing. 1 , 2 Despite the success realized for large-diameter synthetic vessels, 3 , 4 small-diameter synthetic vessels remain limited by their tendency to thrombose and develop intimal hyperplasia. 5