Influence of the suture in the propagation of tears in calf pericardium employed in the construction of cardiac bioprostheses.

The tearing of the fibers of biomaterials employed in implants or bioprostheses leads to early the failure of these devices. The purpose of this study was to determine the force necessary to propagate a tear in a biological tissue, calf pericardium, when sutured. We analyzed the outcome of 230 trials.