TY - JOUR
T1 - In vivo behavior of epoxy-crosslinked porcine heart valve cusps and walls
AU - van Wachem, Pauline B.
AU - Brouwer, Linda A.
AU - Zeeman, R.
AU - Dijkstra, Pieter J.
AU - Feijen, Jan
AU - Hendriks, Marc
AU - Cahalan, Patrick T.
AU - van Luyn, Marja J.A.
PY - 2000
Y1 - 2000
N2 - Calcification limits the long-term durability of xenograft glutaraldehyde-crosslinked heart valves. In this study, epoxy-crosslinked porcine aortic valve tissue was evaluated after subcutaneous implantation in weanling rats. Non-crosslinked valves and valves crosslinked with glutaraldehyde or carbodiimide functioned as control. Epoxy-crosslinked valves had somewhat lower shrinkage temperatures than the crosslinked controls, and within the series also some macroscopic and microscopic differences were obvious. After 8 weeks implantation, cusps from non-crosslinked valves were not retrieved. The matching walls were more degraded than the epoxy- and control-crosslinked walls. This was observed from the higher cellular ingrowth with fibroblasts, macrophages, and giant cells. Furthermore, non-crosslinked walls showed highest numbers of lymphocytes, which were most obvious in the capsules. Epoxy- and control-crosslinked cusps and walls induced lower reactions. Calcification, measured by von Kossa-staining and by Ca-analysis, was always observed. Crosslinked cusps calcified more than walls. Of all wall samples, the non-crosslinked walls showed the highest calcification. It is concluded that epoxy-crosslinked valve tissue induced a foreign body and calcification reaction similar to the two crosslinked controls. Therefore, epoxy-crosslinking does not represent a solution for the calcification problem of heart valve bioprostheses.
AB - Calcification limits the long-term durability of xenograft glutaraldehyde-crosslinked heart valves. In this study, epoxy-crosslinked porcine aortic valve tissue was evaluated after subcutaneous implantation in weanling rats. Non-crosslinked valves and valves crosslinked with glutaraldehyde or carbodiimide functioned as control. Epoxy-crosslinked valves had somewhat lower shrinkage temperatures than the crosslinked controls, and within the series also some macroscopic and microscopic differences were obvious. After 8 weeks implantation, cusps from non-crosslinked valves were not retrieved. The matching walls were more degraded than the epoxy- and control-crosslinked walls. This was observed from the higher cellular ingrowth with fibroblasts, macrophages, and giant cells. Furthermore, non-crosslinked walls showed highest numbers of lymphocytes, which were most obvious in the capsules. Epoxy- and control-crosslinked cusps and walls induced lower reactions. Calcification, measured by von Kossa-staining and by Ca-analysis, was always observed. Crosslinked cusps calcified more than walls. Of all wall samples, the non-crosslinked walls showed the highest calcification. It is concluded that epoxy-crosslinked valve tissue induced a foreign body and calcification reaction similar to the two crosslinked controls. Therefore, epoxy-crosslinking does not represent a solution for the calcification problem of heart valve bioprostheses.
KW - METIS-106561
KW - Cross-linking
KW - Calcification
KW - IR-71568
KW - heart valve
KW - epoxy
KW - Prosthesis
U2 - 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4636(2000)53:1<18::AID-JBM3>3.0.CO;2-J
DO - 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4636(2000)53:1<18::AID-JBM3>3.0.CO;2-J
M3 - Article
VL - 53
SP - 18
EP - 27
JO - Journal of biomedical materials research
JF - Journal of biomedical materials research
SN - 0021-9304
IS - 1
ER -