Category: General

Braz J Cardiovasc Surg. 2025 Aug 26;40(5):e20240405. doi: 10.21470/1678-9741-2024-0405.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term performance of a bovine pericardium valve prosthesis in individuals who required valve replacement in the Brazilian public health system.

METHODS: Medical records of patients having mitral or aortic valve replacement with bovine pericardium valve prostheses between 1978 and 1994 at a Brazilian hospital were reviewed in this retrospective study. Safety was assessed through the complications and serious adverse events rates in the early and long terms. Successful valve replacement was defined by absence of complications and serious adverse events up to 30 days after surgery.

RESULTS: A total of 439 surgeries were performed in 382 patients with a mean age of 46.45 ± 13.93 years. Mean follow-up time was 6.26 years (up to 26.13 years). Rheumatic etiology was present in 83.5% of the cases. Mitral valve replacement was the most performed surgery. Five complications in five patients were recorded up to 30 days after surgery, and the rate of serious adverse events for the same period was 10.3%. Successful valve replacement rate was 90.7%. Postoperative complications were reported during the follow-up period in 29.6% of the procedures, being calcification the most common with 17.3%.

CONCLUSIONS: Despite the young age of the patients, safety outcomes were in accordance with what is reported in the literature for bioprostheses, with acceptable complication, serious adverse events, and freedom from reintervention rates.

PMID:40857581 | PMC:PMC12400614 | DOI:10.21470/1678-9741-2024-0405

Urol Ann. 2025 Jul-Sep;17(3):186-191. doi: 10.4103/ua.ua_5_25. Epub 2025 Jul 18.

ABSTRACT

AIMS: The plaque excision and grating technique is indicated for correcting penile curvature in Peyronie’s disease. We assessed our experience of the modified split graft technique using bovine pericardium after plaque excision.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between March 2020 and September 2024, we operated on 12 patients by the excision of plaque and split grafting technique. Here, we discuss our experience customizing a bovine pericardium graft on a table according to the size of the defect and joining pieces of graft and tunica albuginea with a Polydioxanone (PDS) suture to cover the cavernosal defect.

RESULTS: Patients’ mean age and follow-up were 48 years and 30 months, respectively. The average size of the plaque and penile curvature was 4.6 cm (range 1.5-8 cm) and 45°, respectively. No residual penile curvature was observed in 83.5% of patients while (16.5%) had curvature of <20°. All patients experienced an improvement in stretched penile length with an average increase of 1.6 cm. Seventy-five percent of patients were able to perform sexual activity without assistance after 3 months. One patient, who had a sizeable cavernosal defect of 8 cm × 2 cm, experienced severe postoperative erectile dysfunction (ED) along with residual penile curvature of 15° and required semi-rigid penile prosthesis. Two patients having mild ED was managed by Tadalafil 10 mg. Another patient with residual chordee of <20° was managed on conservative therapy.

CONCLUSIONS: In our limited experience, this modified split graft technique using bovine pericardium after plaque excision seems feasible, cost-effective, and safe. It has comparable outcomes to the standard methods reported in the literature and reduces graft material wastage. Further, long-term randomized trials are needed to validate its long-term efficacy and safety compared to conventional grafting approaches.

PMID:40843398 | PMC:PMC12366843 | DOI:10.4103/ua.ua_5_25

Adv Mater. 2025 Aug 5:e2504765. doi: 10.1002/adma.202504765. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Cardiac patches to repair myocardial defects require mechanically stable materials that prevent bleeding and can be implanted via suturing. The current clinical standard, bovine pericardial patches (BPPs), serve this purpose but do not degrade or integrate with the myocardium, limiting their long-term effectiveness. Here, we present the reinforced cardiac tissue patch (RCPatch). This multimaterial patch comprises a stiffness-tuned, cardiomyocyte-infiltrated 3D metamaterial and a suturable, hydrogel-infiltrated mesh to reduce permeability and bleeding. Anisotropic metamaterials are designed and computationally optimized using a generative modeling approach and fabricated from poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) via volumetric 3D printing (VP). The metamaterial supports the infiltration of cardiomyocytes, which are viable and contract in vitro. The implantability and low blood permeability of the patch is enabled by adding a melt-electrowritten (MEW) mesh infiltrated with a fibrin hydrogel. In an acute large animal trial, the RCPatch was applied on an induced myocardial defect, where it withstood intraventricular blood pressure, prevented bleeding, and enabled hemodynamic restabilization (intraventricular pressure of 81 mmHg before, vs 66 mmHg after implantation). These findings establish a scalable framework for fabricating cardiac tissue patches that integrate mechanical reinforcement with biological function, offering a surgically implantable and future regenerative solution for intraventricular myocardial repair.

PMID:40761175 | DOI:10.1002/adma.202504765