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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 2006;6:S82-S90
© 2006 Elsevier Science NL

Heart valve bioprosthesis durability: a challenge to the new generation of porcine valves

^a Department of Pathology, University of Padova Medical School, Padova, Italy
^b Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Padova Medical School, Padova, Italy

Long-term experience with first generation porcine valve xenografts enabled identification of the major limitations to their durability: (1) prosthetic-ventricular mismatch due to the high profile of the stent in patients with mitral stenosis and a small left ventricle; (2) high-pressure fixation with loss of natural collagen crimping in the fibrosa, and wash-out of proteoglycans in the spongiosa; (3) xenograft tissue autolysis, due to the long interval between animal slaughter and aortic valve removal fixation; (4) muscle shelf in the right coronary cusp, which created a gradient and could undergo accelerated calcification and/or spontaneous perforation with time; (5) a flexible polypropylene stent, which could creep or even fracture with consequent inward bending of the stent; (6) progressive time-related dystrophic calcification; (7) host fibrous tissue ingrowth. An awareness of these limitations stimulated technical modifications, which frequently brought about distinct improvements: (1) the reduction of the stent profile eliminated the problem of mismatch, but resulted in a higher tendency towards cusp prolapse and earlier commissural tearing; (2) natural collagen waviness, proteoglycans and cusp extensibility were preserved by employing low or even zero pressure during the fixation process; (3) earlier valve fixation enabled preservation of cell integrity; (4) a new orifice for small valves was designed by replacing the right muscular cusp, thus achieving less gradient and avoiding muscle-shelf-related complications; (5) polypropylene was replaced by Delrin as stent material; (6) calcium-retarding agents like T6 and toluidine blue were applied during commercial processing and storage in order to mitigate tissue mineralization. Thus, many advances in the manufacture of the new generation of porcine xenografts will result in prolonged durability, even though the problem of dystrophic calcification remains unresolved.

Key Words: Porcine bioprostheses • Tissue preservation • Dystrophic calcification • Antimineralization

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