Antibiotic sterilization of cadaveric homograft aortic valve for clinical use.

Since the first cardiac valve replacement in the early sixth decade of the last century, the search continued for ideal cardiac valve substitute with proven structural durability over a period of 10 to 20 years, central flow orifice without transvalvular gradient, absence of host reactivity deleterious to valve function, non-thrombogenecity without the use of anti-coagulant, resistance to infective endocarditis, availability with cost effectiveness and ease of surgical implantation. The experience with prosthetic tissue valves commenced almost simultaneously with the silastic ball valve and the aortic homograft valve. Homograft aortic valves have been used either as fresh, antibiotic sterilized or cryo-preserved, as a replacement for mitral valve, aortic valve, aortic root replacement, or a conduit between the right ventricle and the pulmonary trunk.