Percutaneous aortic valve replacement in a re-animated postmortem heart

Abstract

Percutaneous valve interventions Percutaneous aortic valve replacement in a re-animated postmortem heart Jennifer K. White 1 *, MD; Amy Sun 2 ; Lauren Killien 2 ; Dennis Evangelista 2 1. Instructor of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Division of Cardiac Surgery, Boston, MA and Visiting Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cambridge, MA, USA; 2. Graduate students, MIT, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cambridge, MA, USA All authors have no conflict of interest. KEYWORDS Heart re-animation, heart valve testing, percutaneous valves, aortic valve replacement, postmortem heart, endoscopic. Aims The non-anatomical properties of conventional bench-top testing apparatus hinder the pre-clinical testing of percutaneous heart valve technology. The aim of this work was to construct a system that integrates a mechanically re-animated post-mortem heart with an artificial circulation and multi-modality imaging to further enable the study of percutaneous heart valve therapies. Methods and results Model A fresh postmortem swine heart (300g) was excised from the animal's chest and cannulated with an 18 mm clear polyvinyl tube in the ascending aorta. The inferior pulmonary vein was incised to allow the inser- tion of a 30 mm clear PVC medical grade tube. A 12.5 mm fluid-tight trocar was positioned in the superi- or pulmonary vein (Thoracoport™, Norwalk, CT). All tubes and trocars were secured in the tissue using 0-silk suture and the chain technique. A 12.5 mm fluid-tight trocar with a side-port for a pressure trans- ducer was positioned in the apex of the left ventricle using a pledgeted 0-silk pulse string secured with a tourniquet. * Corresponding author: Division of Cardiac Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Bullfinch 119/50 Fruit St., Boston, MA 02114, USA E-mail: jkwhite@partners.org © Europa Edition 2006. All rights reserved. EuroIntervention Supplements (2006) 1 (Supplement A) A19-A23 - A19 -