PERICARDIAL PROSTHESIS FOR HEART-VALVE RE PLACEMENT

The ideal artificial heart valve still does not exist among the variou s cardiac valves available to the clinician. Morbidity and mortality a re directly related to the valve itself. Despite the promising hemodyn amic results obtained in the 70s with pericardial prosthesis, these va lves were progressively abandoned due to their poor long-term resistan ce. Based on an analysis of the causes of failures, modifications were made in the manufacturing method and current results with pericardial valves has greatly improved, inciting new interest in their clinical use. Today, the pericardium is recognized as a valid substitution mate rial for bioprostheses. Results of long-term series should confirm cur rent studies. Research is under way to determine how to improve perica rdium longevity since tissue deterioration remains the limiting factor .