In 1956, Gordon Murray first reported the human clinical surgical use of fresh aortic valve homografts (cadaveric) transplanted into the descending thoracic aorta for clinical amelioration of the consequences of native aortic valve insufficiency.1 His initial operation preceded by 5 years the availability of mechanical aortic valve prostheses. Although the operation was only partly successful h...

The surgery of aortic incompetence and calcific aortic stenosis has made disappointing progress, chiefly because of the need for partial or total valve replacement in many of these patients and the technical problems inherent in designing an artificial valve. In rheumatic aortic incompetence it is now fairly clear that total replacement of the valve is almost always required (McGoon, Mankin, an...

OBJECTIVE To determine the life span of cryopreserved homografts implanted in the right ventricular outflow tract and the factors influencing it. METHODS From 1989 through 2003, we reconstructed the pulmonary valve with 301 homografts in 272 patients (median age 13 years; range 4 days-69 years). Indications were tetralogy of Fallot (136), truncus (23), Rastelli repair (11), double outlet vent...

OBJECTIVE To assess the results of early homograft aortic root replacement in infants and children with an aortic root abscess. DESIGN Descriptive study of all patients with an aortic root abscess during 1987-97, identified by retrospective review of the echocardiographic and surgical registries. SETTING A tertiary referral centre. PATIENTS Five patients (age 0.6 to 13 years; two female) ...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dendritic cell (DC) therapy in osteosarcoma. Bone marrow DCs from Wistar (allograft group) and Sprague Dawley (SD) (homograft group) rats were electrically fused with the SD-derived osteosarcoma cell line UMR106 to generate a DC-osteosarcoma fusion (DOF) tumor vaccine, which was co-incubated with SD T lymphocytes to stimulate T cell prolif...

BACKGROUND Calcification is an important limitation after aortic root replacement. The aims were to compare the long-term degree and rate of calcification of homografts versus Medtronic freestyle aortic roots to determine the functional consequences and predictive factors. METHODS AND RESULTS One hundred sixty-six patients were prospectively randomized to undergo homograft versus freestyle to...

We report the correction of aortic regurgitation by the insertion of a homograft aortic valve. The valve had been stored in buffered formaldehyde for six months, and this technique of preservation is the purpose of this communication. Formaldehyde in acetate buffer for the preservation of valve tissue was suggested to us by Lord Brock (1962), and this report of its use is believed to be the fir...