Effectiveness of different anticalcification treatments for stentless aortic bioprostheses

Background: New anticalcification treatments for stentless bioprostheses ha ve not yet been compared independently. Material and Methods: The No-react( R) (Biocor), AOA(R) (Medtronic Freestyle), and BiLinx(TM) (SJM Toronto SPV II) methods were studied and compared with a control group. Aortic valve le aflet and aortic root tissue was subcutaneously implanted in 60 male, 21-da ys-old Sprague-Dawley rats. Calcium content was quantified using inductivel y coupled plasma spectrophotometry. Results: No infections occurred. Low le vels of calcium were measured in aortic valve leaflet tissue for all method s (0.4 to 1.5 mg/g dry weight) in comparison to the control group (225 mg/g ), p < 0.01. Calcification of aortic root tissue was low in the Bilinx(TM) group (2.4 mg/g, p < 0.01), whereas calcium levels were high in all other g roups (104 to 127 mg/g). Conclusions: Calcification of aortic valve leaflet s was significantly reduced by all new anticalcification treatments, wherea s aortic root calcification was only reduced by inhibition of cellular calc ification (BiLinx(TM)). Maximum anticalcification properties of both leafle t and aortic root are important, as these are considered a functional unit in stentless bioprostheses.