Month: August 2025

J Cardiothorac Surg. 2025 Jun 24;20(1):272. doi: 10.1186/s13019-025-03505-8.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To explore the application and effect of aortic annulus reconstruction (AAR) with bovine pericardium during surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) for severe calcific aortic stenosis (AS).

METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 12 patients with severe calcified AS who underwent bovine pericardium aortic annulus reconstruction between January 2021 to December 2023. The average age of the patients was 58 ± 8.8 years. All patients were diagnosed with severe AS, along with aortic valve and annulus calcification, through chest computed tomography (CT) and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) prior to surgery. After the resection of severely calcified aortic annulus tissue, all patients were given a bovine pericardial patch to repair the annular defect, and five of these patients underwent Y-incision aortic annular enlargement (AAE). The patients were followed up for a duration of 0.5 to 2 years.

RESULTS: A total of 12 patients undergoing SAVR were enrolled, and all received bovine pericardial patches to repair the annular defects, with a mean preoperative indexed effective orifice area (iEOA) of 0.58 ± 0.098 cm²/m². The average extracorporeal circulation time during the operation was 150.83 ± 34.5 min, and the average cross-clamp time was 95.42 ± 17.46 min. Postoperative evaluations indicated that the structural integrity of the valve annulus remained intact, demonstrating hemodynamic stabilization without any recorded fatalities among participants. Compared to preoperative levels, the aortic valve mean gradient (4.67 ± 1.15 vs. 59.67 ± 17.94 mmHg, P < 0.001), peak gradient (13 [10-15.75] vs. 92 [82.25-110.25] mmHg, P < 0.001), mean aortic jet velocity (99.67 ± 15.44 vs. 367.17 ± 58.13 cm/s, P < 0.001), and peak aortic jet velocity (182.25 ± 23.40 vs. 495.67 ± 61.74 cm/s, P < 0.001) significantly decreased after 0.5 years of follow-up. There were no complications such as hemolysis, perivalvular leakage, thrombosis or endocarditis during follow-up.

CONCLUSION: In patients with severe calcified AS, the AAR technique using bovine pericardium during SAVR is safe and effective, with stable hemodynamic performance and satisfactory clinical outcomes.

PMID:40556029 | PMC:PMC12186314 | DOI:10.1186/s13019-025-03505-8

Chem Asian J. 2025 Jul 21:e00652. doi: 10.1002/asia.202500652. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Bioprosthetic heart valves (BHVs) offer advantages over mechanical valves but are limited by long-term degeneration and calcification. This study aimed to develop a durable BHV material using decellularized bovine pericardium (BP) and alternative cross-linking strategies. BP was decellularized using a combination of sodium deoxycholate (SDC) and Triton X-100 (TX), which removed cellular components while preserving the extracellular matrix (ECM), as confirmed by histological, DNA quantification, and biochemical analyses. The impact of glutaraldehyde, glyoxal, tannic acid, and catechin cross-linking on calcification propensity and mechanical properties was evaluated. Glyoxal-cross-linked BP, further capped with 1% l-glutamic acid, demonstrated superior resistance to calcification while maintaining mechanical properties comparable to standard glutaraldehyde treatment. These results suggest that SDC-TX decellularized, glyoxal-cross-linked BP with l-glutamic acid capping presents a promising strategy for enhancing BHV durability and biocompatibility, offering a potential alternative to conventional glutaraldehyde.

PMID:40686436 | DOI:10.1002/asia.202500652