Early valvular obliteration of cryopreserved aortic valve allograft

Abstract

This report describes a 60-year-old male patient who developed early valvular obliteration of a cryopreserved aortic valve allograft with associated severe valvular leakage. The patient had previously undergone two operations for aortic valve insufficiency resulting from infective endocarditis, and prosthetic valve endocarditis: aortic valve replacement with a mechanical prosthesis was done 4 years ago, and two years later aortic root replacement with a cryopreserved allograft was performed. Perforation through the non-coronary cusp of the aortic allograft was found, and valve replacement was achieved using a mechanical prosthesis. The intraoperative findings, histological, immunological, and bacteriological studies of the resected cusps demonstrated negative for infection and rejection, therefore, the valvular perforation might have been caused by an injury or degeneration during management of the homologous graft. The patient showed neither aortic regurgitation on echocardiography nor recurrence of endocarditis 10 months after surgery.

Clinical Outcome of Aortic Root Replacement With Cryopreserved Aortic Valve Allografts

“…The other 6 cases were lost due to non-cardiac reasons. The major indications for reoperation were pseudoaneurysm at the anastomosis sites (either proximal or distal anastomosis line), allograft aortic valve insufficiency due to perforation of the non-coronary cusp [Saito et al, 2003], and bleeding at the proximal anastomosis.…”