Structure and Rheological Properties of Bovine Aortic Heart Valve and Pericardium Tissue: Implications in Bioprosthetic and Tissue-Engineered Heart Valves.

Hani A Alhadrami,Raza Ur Rehman Syed,Rashid Ahmed,Alap Ali Zahid,Shajia Hasan,Anwarul Hasan

doi:10.1155/2019/3290370

Hani A Alhadrami, Raza Ur Rehman Syed + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/3290370

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Abstract

Heart valve (HV) diseases are among the leading causes of cardiac failure and deaths. Of the various HV diseases, damaged HV leaflets are among the primary culprits. In many cases, impaired HV restoration is not always possible, and the replacement of valves becomes necessary. Bioprosthetic HVs have been used for the replacement of the diseased valves, which is obtained from the sources of bovine and porcine origin, while tissue-engineered heart valves (TEHV) have emerged as a promising future solution. The bioprosthetic valves are prone to become calcified, and thus they last for only ten to fifteen years. The adequate understanding of the correlations between the biomechanics and rheological properties of native HV tissues can enable us to improve the durability of the bioprosthetic HV as well as help in the development of tissue-engineered heart valves (TEHV). In this study, the structural and rheological properties of native bovine aortic HV and pericardium tissues were investigated. The microstructures of the tissues were investigated using scanning electron microscopy, while the rheological properties were studied using oscillatory shear measurement and creep test. The reported results provide significant insights into the correlations between the microstructure and viscoelastic properties of the bovine aortic HV and pericardium tissues.

Highlights

Heart valve (HV) diseases are among the major causes of death among elderly people worldwide [1]
Fresh bovine heart and pericardium tissues were obtained from the local slaughterhouse in Doha, Qatar. e pericardium tissue was separated from the heart followed by the dissection of the heart and the extraction of the aortic heart valves (AHV) leaflets. e obtained AHV leaflets and pericardium tissue were washed with the sterile PBS and kept in PBS in two separate Petri dishes
For the aortic valve leaflets, the samples were punched from the belly region, which is the main part of each leaflet [32], whereas for the pericardium tissue, the samples were punched from the middle region to ensure uniform thickness

Summary

Introduction

Heart valve (HV) diseases are among the major causes of death among elderly people worldwide [1]. Around 30,000 people around the world undergo HV replacement surgeries, while just in 2013, around 275,000 people died worldwide due to various HV diseases [2,3,4]. Among various HV diseases, aortic valve (AV) disease is the third most common valvular disease causing a large number of deaths every year [5]. Most HV diseases are treated by repairing the damaged valve leaflets. The grafting of the valves sometimes becomes challenging and not feasible; the replacement or surgery of HV becomes necessary [4]

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