Tissue Engineering of Cardiac Valve Prostheses II: Biomechanical Characterization of Decellularized Porcine Aortic Heart Valves
Sotiris A. Korossis MSc, Catherine Booth PhD, Helen E. Wilcox PhD, Kevin G. Watterson FRCS, John N. Kearney PhD, John Fisher DEng, Eileen Ingham PhD

The complications and limitations inherent in contemporary cardiac valve prostheses render them imperfect for use in young patients. For this group, there is a need for a heart valve replacement therapy that will develop with the patient. Tissue-engineered heart valves utilizing biological decellularized matrices and in-vitro recellularization have this potential, but the decellularization treatment must not affect the biomechanical integrity of the valvular matrix. This study investigated the effect of 0.03% (w/v) and 0.1% (w/v) sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on the mechanical integrity of porcine aortic valve leaflets. The treatments produced a more extensible tissue with equal strength compared with the fresh aortic valve. Functionality experiments with SDS-treated whole aortic roots showed complete valve leaflet competence under physiological pressures (120 mmHg) and physiological leaflet kinematics.