The present invention pertains to artificial vascular prostheses for the repair of damaged or diseased blood vessels. There is currently a urgent and unmet clinical need for vascular prostheses, particularly those of small-diameters. The inventors showed that an artificial vascular prosthesis can be obtained by a simple method based on the physical reticulation of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), comprising the steps of (i) preparing a pre-gel solution by mixing partially deacetylated PVA and a concentrated alkaline solution, (ii) freezing the pre-gel solution into a cylindrical mold allowing to cast the pre-gel into the form of a tube, (iii) thawing the frozen PVA tubular hydrogel and (iv) drying the PVA tube in controlled conditions. Additionally, the intraluminal surface of the PVA hydrogel can be cross-linked with therapeutic molecules. The inventors demonstrated that PVA tubes functionalized with dextran and/or heparin satisfy the mechanical and biological properties required for their in vivo implantation.