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Comparison of human and porcine aortic valves
Author(s) -
Sim Eugene K.W.,
Muskawad Sanjeev,
Lim ChuSing,
Yeo Joon Hock,
Hiang Lim Khee,
Grignani Robert T.,
Durrani A.,
Lau Gilbert,
Duran Carlos
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
clinical anatomy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.667
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1098-2353
pISSN - 0897-3806
DOI - 10.1002/ca.10149
Subject(s) - cusp (singularity) , aortic valve , medicine , human heart , anatomy , cardiology , body surface area , geometry , mathematics
We compared the anatomy of human and porcine aortic valves. Porcine hearts were collected from the abattoir. Human hearts from patients who had died of non‐cardiac causes were examined in the mortuary; only undamaged and anatomically normal hearts were used. Silicon casts were prepared by injecting engineering silicon at 80 mm Hg into the aortic arch. Various features of the aortic valve were measured: circumference, length between the commissural end point and central point of coaptation, surface diameter, and surface area. In total, 12 porcine and 12 human aortic valves were studied. The average circumferences of the human and porcine aortic valves were 8.00 ± 0.2 (SD) cm and 7.90 ± 1.0 cm, respectively. The central point of coaptation in human valves was skewed toward the left coronary cusp, whereas in porcine valves it was skewed toward the non‐coronary cusp. In human aortic valves, the non‐coronary cusp had the largest surface diameter and surface area with mean measurements of 3.6 ± 0.2 cm and 1.230 ± 0.228 cm 2 , respectively; the left coronary cusp was smallest for the same variables with measurements of 3.1 ± 0.3 cm and 0.898 ± 0.357 cm 2 . In porcine valves, the right coronary cusp had the largest surface diameter and surface area with mean measurements of 3.9 ± 0.7 cm and 1.716 ± 0.81 cm 2 , respectively; the non‐coronary cusp was the smallest for the same variables with measurements of 2.9 ± 0.5 cm and 1.023 ± 0.659 cm 2 . These differences suggest that when using porcine valves as transplant material (e.g., stentless valves), geometric considerations, such as commissural length, may be important. Clin. Anat. 16:193–196, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.