Between August 1969 and January 1976, 561 patients underwent homograft replacement of the aortic valve (AVR). Isolated AVR was performed in 339 patients, ranging in age between 18 months and 74 years. The valves were sterilized in antibiotic solution and preserved at 4 degrees C in tissue culture medium. There were 11 early deaths (3.2%) and 23 late deaths (6.8%). Actuarial analysis showed 88% ...

The advent of clinical cardiac transplantation has been accompanied by a public fanfare unprecedented in medicine. This unfortunate situation has tended to obscure the long history of experimental heart transplantation and the relationship of clinical heart transplantation to previous work in renal and hepatic homotransplantation. This discussion is a review of past experimental work with a not...

Objectives: We evaluated the effect of homograft/native aortic root geometric matching and mismatching on valve survival and myocardial remodeling. Methods: Between January 1, 1987 and March 2000, a total of 292 patients, aged 1.5–78 years (mean, 46.2 years), underwent freehand subcoronary aortic valve (AVR; n 1⁄4 207) and root (ARR; n 1⁄4 85) replacement with matched and mismatched cryopreserv...

PURPOSE Homograft benefits include excellent hemodynamics, resistance to infection, decreased thromboembolic events, ease of handling, and lack of need for anticoagulation. We examined the short and mid-term results of right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) reconstruction using cryopreserved homografts. PATIENTS AND METHODS From May 1998 to May 2005, 20 patients (male:female=10:10) underwent ...

Background: Hospital mortality in surgical reconstruction of the right ventricular outflow tract using pulmonary homograft is variable. Objectives: To identify risk factors associated with hospital mortality and patients’ clinical profile. Methods: Study on children who had undergone reconstruction of the right ventricular outflow tract using pulmonary homograft. We analyzed as risk factors the...

OBJECTIVE The study was conducted to evaluate the long-term results of homograft reconstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract with a cryopreserved aortic homograft in the presence of aortic root abscess associated with a biofilm bacterial infection. METHODS Between January 1987 and December 2003, 161 patients with aortic root abscess underwent freehand aortic valve (FAVR, N = 78) and ...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES We analyzed the incidence, risk factors and clinical impact of pulmonary homograft dysfunction after the Ross procedure in our patients. PATIENTS AND METHOD All patients were evaluated at 3, 6 and 12 months, and annually thereafter. Patients with a transhomograft pressure gradient greater than 30 mmHg were referred for cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS ...

One hundred sixty-nine patients underwent replacement of the aortic valve with an aortic valve homograft; of these patients 17 had concomitant commissurotomy or annuloplasty for an associated mitral valve lesion. Homografts were prepared by sterilization with beta-propiolactone solution and stored in Hanks' solution, or were prepared by sterilization with irradiation and stored at -70 C. Operat...