Korean J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg.  2009 Apr;42(2):148-156.

The Dynamic and Histologic Changes of Variously Fixed Bovine Pericardiums Specimens after Mechanical Fatigue Stimuli

• Chang HW
• Kim YJ
• Kim SH
• Park JE
• Park CS
• Kim WH
• Kim KH

Abstract

BACKGROUND: As cardiovascular operations become more complex and sophisticated, there is an increasing need for various bioprostheses for use as components of blood vessels and heart valves. We developed a fatigue stimuli test instrument to objectively evaluate the mechanical durability of a bioprosthesis, and we tested several currently- known processing methods for bovine pericardium and we then compared the results. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Fresh bovine pericardium was collected at the butcher shop with using aseptic technique, and each piece of pericardium was fixated and/or decellularized by 16 representative methods. We measured the permeability and compliance of the processed bovine pericardium samples, and measured them again after exposure to the fatigue stimuli. All the pieces of pericardium underwent microscopic examinations before and after the fatigue stimuli. RESULT: A mixture of glutaraldehyde and solvent treatment showed better mechanical durability than did the single glutaraldehyde treatment. High concentration glutaraldehyde treatment showed equal or no worse results than did low concentration glutaraldehyde treatment. After SDS (sodium dodecylsulfate) decellularization, the mechanical property of the bioprosthesis became much worse (20~190 times) and the mechanical durability to the fatigue stimuli was also very poor.
CONCLUSION
We obtained the basic durability data after various fixation methods with using a home-made fatigue test instrument.

Keyword

Bioprosthesis; Pericardium; Biomedical engineering

MeSH Terms

Biomedical Engineering
Bioprosthesis
Blood Vessels
Compliance
Fatigue
Glutaral
Heart Valves
Pericardium
Permeability
Glutaral