Aortic and pulmonic valve allografts have a wide range of uses in cardiovascular surgery and are used to repair both congenital malformations and acquired cardiac valve lesions. Because allograft heart valves are natural human valves, they offer appealing advantages over prosthetic and porcine valve replacements and do not require the preventative use of anticoagulants postoperatively. In addition to pulmonic and aortic valves, Northwest Tissue Services also distributes patches and non-valved conduits.
When ordering cardiovascular tissues, the following information is important:
- type of valve - pulmonic or aortic
- valve diameter
- conduit length requirements
- surgical procedure
- adventitia requirements
Specific information pertaining to each heart valve is provided with the tissue and includes the dissection description, thawing and dilution instructions, transplant record and storage condition requirements. A faxed copy of the dissection description is available in advance for the surgeon's review prior to surgery.
The allograft package is stored at super-cold liquid nitrogen temperatures (-100 to -196°C). The allografts are transported to the hospital for surgery in a Cryomed shipper that maintains proper temperature for at least I0 days from the date of shipment.
The following pages are examples of Tissue Services Cardiovascular Allograft Information paperwork including cardiovascular allograft description with dissection observations.
The following illustrations provided by Phyllis Wood Associates, ©1997.
