New Model for the Assessment of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Devices in Sheep.

Background: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is an effective therapy in treating high-risk patients suffering from aortic stenosis. Animal models used to evaluate safety and efficacy of TAVR devices prior to clinical use lack a stenotic aortic annulus, a critical impediment to long-term TAVR device evaluation. We sought to create a reproducible model of aortic stenosis using a modified aortic annuloplasty (MAA) procedure in sheep, followed by deployment and long-term evaluation of TAVR devices using this model.

Skull base oncocytoma presenting as epistaxis: an unusual presentation of a rare tumour successfully managed with active surveillance.

Oncocytomas are rare tumours, usually occurring in the salivary glands, but may very occasionally occur in other sites. The authors present a skull base oncocytoma as a rare cause of spontaneous epistaxis. Following diagnosis through imaging and intranasal biopsy, the patient opted for annual surveillance instead of active treatment and made a full recovery nonetheless.

Triglycidyl amine crosslinking combined with ethanol inhibits bioprosthetic heart valve calcification.

Background: One of the most important factors responsible for the calcific failure of bioprosthetic heart valves is glutaraldehyde crosslinking. Ethanol (EtOH) incubation after glutaraldehyde crosslinking has previously been reported to confer anticalcification efficacy for bioprostheses. The present studies investigated the anticalcification efficacy in vivo of the novel crosslinking agent, triglycidyl amine (TGA), with or without EtOH incubation, in comparison with glutaraldehyde.

Prevention of calcification of bioprosthetic heart valve cusp and aortic wall with ethanol and aluminum chloride.

Background: Calcification is frequently associated with device failure of bioprostheses fabricated from either glutaraldehyde pretreated porcine aortic valves or bovine pericardium. It was hypothesized that differential pretreatment with ethanol-aluminum chloride will prove safe and efficacious for inhibiting the calcification of both the porcine aortic valve bioprosthetic cusp and the aortic wall.

Methods: Glutaraldehyde-fixed porcine aortic valves were subjected to differential aluminum chloride (AlCl3) and ethanol pretreatment; aortic wall segments were treated exclusively with AlCl3 (0.

Inhibition of cusp and aortic wall calcification in ethanol- and aluminum-treated bioprosthetic heart valves in sheep: background, mechanisms, and synergism.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Calcification of bioprosthetic heart valves fabricated from glutaraldehyde (GA)-pretreated heterograft tissue is frequently responsible for the clinical failure of these devices. Stentless bioprostheses fabricated from GA-fixed porcine aortic valves pose an important challenge in this regard, as pathologic calcification can affect not only the bioprosthetic cusps, but also the aortic wall segment.

Methods: A synergistic approach was used to prevent bioprosthetic cusp and aortic wall calcification.