COMPOSITE VASCULAR GRAFT WITH ANTIMICROBIAL AND BIODEGRADABLE MATRICES AND AN OUTER FABRIC LAYER

摘要

A composite vascular graft is provided, which incorporates bioactive agents that can be controllably delivered to the implantation site to deliver therapeutic materials and/or to reduce infection of the implant. The vascular graft (10) of the present invention includes a luminal layer (12) of ePTFE; and a biodegradable polymer layer (14) including a bioactive agent (16), such as an antimicrobial agent. The biodegradable polymer layer is posited on the external surface of the luminal ePTFE layer. The graft also includes a fabric layer (18), which is posited on the external surface of the biodegradable layer. The graft is particularly useful as an arterial-venous graft for hemodialysis procedures.