Abstract:Objective To evaluate the effect of external stents on preventing vein graft neointima formation and medial thickening with non-restrictive macro porous polyester stent around porcine vein grafts. Methods Studies were performed by using ＂white race＂ pigs （n= 10） weight 25-30 kg. All the animals underwent bilateral saphenous vein into carotid artery bypass grafting. In each animal, a maeroporous stent was placed around a graft on one side and a control （unstented） graft on the opposite side. The polyester stent was shaped to cover both anastomoses completely. The size of the stem allowed unrestricted expansion of the graft in initial response to arterial pressure. After 35 days of surgery,all animals were taken to remove the grafts. Graft wall dimensions, platelet- derived growth factor （PDGF） expression and cell proliferation using proliferating cell nuclear antigen （PCNA） were measured on histological sections. Results Stents significantly reduced neointimal thickening （0. 4872 ± 0. 0706 mm vs. 0. 2259± 0. 0553mm,P〈0. 01）and medial thickening （0. 6246±0. 0859mm vs. 0. 4201±0. 0615mm,P〈0. 01）. Stents significantly reduced the percentage of cells expressing PDGF and PCNA. Media, intimal PCNA index was reduced from 7. 980/00± 4. 060/00 to 3.35±0.95%（P〈0.01）, PDGF index was reduced from 9.47%±5.35% to 2.67%± 0.97% （P 〈0. 01）. Conclusion External non-restrictive polyester stent can significantly inhibit neointimal formation and medial thickening, and may prevent late vein grafts restenosis.