The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	Factors effecting calcification of bioprosthetic heart valves
Author:	Yu, Sumei
View Online:	njit-etd1995-125 (x, 62 pages ~ 2.4 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Environmental Science
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Applied Chemistry
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Kristol, David S. (Committee chair) Gabbay, Shlomo (Committee member) Venanzi, Carol A. (Committee member)
Date:	1995-10
Keywords:	Heart valve prosthesis--Calification.
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	Calcification is the most frequent cause of clinical dysfunction of glutaraldehyde treated bioprosthetic heart valves. In this study, we compared calcification of bioprostheses of the No-ReactTM and the conventional glutaraldehyde treated pericardium by both in-vivo and in-vitro methods, and to further delineate the role of the host's inflammatory response in implant degeneration. In the in-vitro study, the two types of pericardial samples were placed in individual polystyrene tubes containing physiological concentrations of calcium and phosphate and incubated for 21 days at 37°C. In the in-vivo study, the two types of pericardial samples were implanted subcutaneously in rats and subsequently retrieved at 15, 21, and 35 days postimplantation. Calcium analyses were performed on each specimen. Experimental results showed that a significantly reduced in vitro calcification of No-ReactTM treated pericardium compared to conventional glutaraldehyde pretreated tissue (mean calcium content, 1.3 ± 0.2 μg/mg of No-ReactTM treated tissue versus 5.8 ± 0.7 μg/mg of glutaraldehyde pretreated tissue) (p < 0.001). In-vivo test showed progressive calcification of glutaraldehyde treated pericardium over 5-week period (mean tissue calcium content increasing from 49.6 ± 9.6 μg/mg after 2-week to 134.3 ± 9.1 μg/mg at 5 weeks postimplantation), while No-ReactTM treated pericardial tissue calcified significantly less (p < 0.05) in 20-30 μg/mg level at each corresponding interval. p>All these lead to the conclusion that the calcification of conventional glutaraldehyde treated pericardium is more severe than No-ReactTM treated pericardium both in vivo and in vitro tests.