Aortoesophageal fistula (AEF) is a rare but fatal complication caused by foreign body ingestion. Aortic replacement and endovascular stent graft are the common repair surgeries. The materials to repair an aortic defect in AEF are typically homograft or allograft, but the use of an autologous pericardium patch is rarely reported. Here we reported a patient with AEF and severe mediastinal infection induced by chicken bone ingestion. In this case, the autologous pericardium patch was used as the repair material.
Aorta ; injuries ; surgery ; Aortic Diseases ; etiology ; surgery ; Autografts ; transplantation ; Esophageal Fistula ; etiology ; surgery ; Foreign Bodies ; complications ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; etiology ; surgery ; Humans ; Mediastinal Diseases ; surgery ; Pericardium ; transplantation ; Stents ; Transplantation, Autologous ; methods ; Vascular Fistula ; etiology ; surgery ; Vascular Grafting ; methods

BACKGROUND: Glutaraldehyde (GA) is a widely used cross-linking agent for improving mechanical properties and resistance to enzymatic degradation of collagenous tissue, but it has several drawbacks such as calcification and cytotoxicity. The aim of this study was to find the alternative effective cross-linking methods to GA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Bovine pericardium was processed with GA with ethanol+octanol and glycine detoxification, and polyethylene glycol (PG) space filler, dimethyl 3,3'-dithiobispropionimidate (DTBP), 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) treatment, and the physical fixation of ultraviolet irradiation were done. The biologic material properties of variously treated pericardial tissues were assessed by biochemical, mechanical and histological tests. Treated pericardial tissues were also implanted subcutaneously or intramuscularly into the rabbit for 10 weeks to assess the xenoreactive antibody response of immunoglobulin G and M, their anti-calcification effect. RESULTS: The biochemical and mechanical properties of EDC fixed pericardial tissues were comparable to the GA fixed tissue. The cytotoxicity was lowest in space filler treated GA fixed group. In rabbit subcutaneous or intramuscular implantation models, decellularization, space filler, EDC treatment group showed significantly lower calcium content than GA only and DTBP treatment group (p<0.05, analysis of variance). The titer of anti Galalpha1-3Galbeta1-4GlcNAc-R antibodies did not change in the postimplantation serial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Hematoxylin and eosin and von Kossa staining showed that decellularization, space filler, EDC, and ultraviolet treatment had less inflammatory cell infiltration and calcium deposits. CONCLUSION: The decellularization process, PG filler, and EDC treatments are good alternative cross-linking methods compared to GA only fixation and primary amine of DTBP treatment for cardiovascular xenograft preservation in terms of the collagen cross-linking stability and in vivo anti-calcification effects.
Antibodies ; Antibody Formation ; Bioprosthesis ; Calcium ; Collagen ; Cyclohexanes ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Eosine Yellowish-(YS) ; Glutaral ; Glycine ; Hematoxylin ; Imidoesters ; Immunoglobulin G ; Pericardium ; Polyethylene Glycols ; Transplantation, Heterologous ; Trisaccharides

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of unidirectional valved patch (UVP) for congenital heart disease (CHD) with severe pulmonary hypertension (PH). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the treatment of 37 CHD patients with severe PH by UVP in the operation, and summarized its short-term to mid-term effect to find an optimum therapeutic regimen. RESULTS: Before the operation, the ECG showed that the mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP) ranged 65-72 mmHg, and the cardiac catheterization showed the pulmonary artery pressure ranged 80-120 mmHg, P(P)/P(A) ranged 0.8-1.05,PVR ranged 8.5-19.2 (under oxygen inhalation 6.8-14.6) wood unit.After the operation, P(P)/P(A) ranged 0.4-0.72 on weaning-off CPB. Postoperative ECG showed the MPAP ranged 32-48 mmHg. No pulmonary hypertension crisis occurred and no patient died. Mechanical ventilation time ranged from 32 h to 8 d and the SaO₂ ranged 93%-96% at rest after the extubation.The right-to-left shunt situations by ECG were as follows:22 cases had shunt 5 d after the operation, 11 cases had shunt 1 month after the operation,4 cases 3 months after the operation, and none 1 year after the operation but one patient lost follow-up.However,there were no long-term follow-up data: 12 patients had a 1-year follow-up, 5 patients had a 3-year follow-up, and most patients had just 3-month follow-up. CONCLUSION UVP can decrease the operative risk in CHD with severe PH at perioperative period. The short-term to mid-term effect is satisfactory, while long-term effect remains uncertain.
Adolescent ; Cardiac Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Child ; Female ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; complications ; surgery ; Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular ; complications ; surgery ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; etiology ; surgery ; Male ; Pericardium ; transplantation ; Prosthesis Implantation ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

pericardium.METHODS: From January 2007 to June 2009, among the patients who received an implant at Chosun University Dental Hospital, patients were selected if they were treated with guided bone regeneration (GBR) with simultaneous implant placement or GBR prior to implant placement. The selected patients were sorted according to the materials and membranes used in GBR, and the implant survival rate was recorded by clinical examination and reviewing the medical records and the radiographs. Each study list was analyzed by SPSS (version 12.0, SPSS Inc., USA) software and the survival rate was verified by Chi-square tests. P values less than 0.05% were deemed significant.RESULTS: 278 implants were placed on a total of 101 patients and 8 implants resulted in failure. Three implants failed among 15 implants with only a mineralized bone allograft. No failure was shown among the 74 implants placed with mineralized bone allograft and a barrier membrane derived from ox pericardium. One group of 4 implant placements showed failure among the 102 implants placed with a mineralized bone allograft and another bone graft material. The group that had a barrier membrane derived from ox pericardium with a mineralized bone allograft or other bone materials showed no implant failure. Three failures were shown among the 21 implants placed with only bone graft and not using a membrane. The group with membranes other than a barrier membrane derived from ox pericardium showed 5 failures among 170 implants.CONCLUSION: The implant survival rate of the group with GBR using a mineralized bone allograft was 96.3%, which meant there was little difference compared to the groups of another bone graft materials (98.9%). The implant survival rate of the group without a membrane-was 85.7% and it showed a significant difference compared to the group using a barrier membrane derived from ox pericardium (100%) and the group using another membrane (97.1%).]]>
Bone Regeneration ; Dental Implants ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Membranes ; Pericardium ; Survival Rate ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Transplants

BACKGROUND: Effective decellularization and fixation process is critical, in order to use xenogenic valves clinically. In the present study, we decellularized bovine pericardium using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and N-lauroyl sarcosinate, treated with alpha-galactosidase, and then fixed in various manners, to find out the most effective tissue preservation & fixation procedure. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Bovine pericardium was decellularized with SDS and N-lauroyl sarcosinate, and treated with alpha-galactosidase. Both groups were fixed differently, by varying glutaraldehyde (GA) or EDC (1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyl aminopropyl)-carbodiimide)/N-hydroxysuccinamide (NHS) treatment conditions. Thereafter, physical examination, tensile strength test, thermal stability test, cytotoxicity test, pronase test, pronase-ninhydrin test, purpald test, permeability test, compliance test, H&E staining, DNA quantification, and alpha-galactose staining were carried out to each groups. RESULT: GA fixed groups showed better physical properties and thermal stability than EDC/NHS fixed groups. EDC/NHS-GA dual fixed groups showed better physical properties and thermal stability than EDC/NHS fixed groups, and showed better thermal stability than GA fixed groups. In pronase test and pronase-ninhydrin test, GA fixed groups and EDC/NHS-GA dual fixed groups showed stronger crosslinks than EDC/NHS groups. Permeability and compliance tended to increase in EDC/NHS-GA dual fixed groups, compared to GA fixed groups. But, EDC/NHS-GA dual fixed groups had stronger tensile strength and lower cytotoxicity than GA fixed groups. CONCLUSION: We have verified that EDC/NHS-GA dual fixation can make effective crosslinks and lower the toxicity of GA fixation. Henceforth, we will verify if EDC/NHS-GA dual fixation can lower calcifications & tissue failure in vivo experiment.
alpha-Galactosidase ; Compliance ; DNA ; Glutaral ; Pericardium ; Permeability ; Physical Examination ; Pronase ; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate ; Sulfhydryl Compounds ; Tensile Strength ; Tissue Engineering ; Tissue Preservation ; Transplantation, Heterologous

BACKGROUND: Glutaraldehyde-fixed heterografts are prone to calcification after long-term implantation in human, and this is one of the limiting factors for the longevity of the heterografts used in cardiovascular surgery. The aim of the study was to evaluate the anticalcification effect of an ethanol and amino acids treatment on glutaraldehyde- fixed bovine pericardium. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Bovine pericardial tissues were divided into 5 groups. Group 1 consisted of tissues fixed with glutaraldehyde, group 2 consisted of commercially available bovine pericardial valve tissues (Carpentier-Edwards PERIMOUNT), group 3 consisted of glutaraldehyde-fixed tissues treated with ethanol, group 4 consisted of glutaraldehyde-fixed tissues treated with ethanol and L-glutamic acid, and group 5 consisted of glutaraldehyde-fixed tissues treated with ethanol and homocysteic acid. The tissue microstructure was examined by light and electron microscopy. Tissue samples of each group were implanted into rat subcutaneous tissue for 3~4 months and the calcium contents were measured after harvest. RESULT: The collagen fibers appeared to be well preserved in all the groups. The calcium contents of groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 (13.46+/-11.74, 0.33+/-0.02, 0.39+/-0.08 and 0.42+/-0.06micro/mg, respectively) were all significantly lower than that of group 1 (149.97+/-28.25micro/mg) (p <0.05). The calcium contents of groups 3, 4 and 5 were all significantly lower than that of group 2 (p <0.05). CONCLUSION: Treatment with ethanol alone or in combination with amino acids (L-glutamic acid or homocysteic acid) strongly prevented the calcification of glutaraldehyde-fixed bovine pericardium.
Amino Acids ; Animals ; Calcium ; Collagen ; Ethanol ; Glutamic Acid ; Glutaral ; Homocysteine ; Humans ; Light ; Longevity ; Microscopy, Electron ; Pericardium ; Rats ; Subcutaneous Tissue ; Transplantation, Heterologous

PURPOSE: Most of grafts used as interposition conduits for middle hepatic vein (MHV) in living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) have been allografts and autografts. Recently, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and bovine pericardium patch have also been used. Thus, we performed large-animal lab tests to assess the feasibility of interposition vessel graft substitutes for MHV. METHODS: The inferior vena cava was replaced in 9 dogs with allograft (3), PTFE (3), and bovine pericardium patch (3). After 28 days, patency rate, outer and inner diameter, intimal thickness, histology, and immunohistochemistry were evaluated according to interposition grafts. RESULTS: The allograft and PTFE groups were all patent at post-operative week 4, but the bovine group was not patent in all dogs. Outer diameter of anastomotic site at 4 weeks was 8.41+/-0.37, 10.83+/-0.51, and 7.41+/-0.86 mm in allograft, PTFE, and bovine group, respectively. Inner diameter of interposition graft at 4 weeks was 7.90+/-0.23, 6.33+/-0.68, and 0 mm in allograft, PTFE, and bovine groups, respectively. Intimal thickness was 48.0+/-8.6, 113.8+/-45.3, and 218.3+/-59.9microm in allograft, PTFE, and bovine groups, respectively. In histologic findings, inflammation was most severe in the bovine group. Intima of anastomotic site in the bovine group was thickest in all groups. Proliferation of smooth muscle cells was most severe in anti-alpha-actin antibody test in bovine group. CONCLUSION: Our data implicate that the use of allografts and PTFE grafts is more feasible than bovine pericardium for MHV reconstruction in LDLT.
Animals ; Dogs ; Glycosaminoglycans ; Hepatic Veins ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Inflammation ; Liver ; Liver Transplantation ; Living Donors ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; Pericardium ; Polytetrafluoroethylene ; Pyridines ; Thiazoles ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Transplants ; Vena Cava, Inferior

BACKGROUND: With the advances of cardiac surgery, the demand for an artificial prosthesis has increased, and this has led to the development and utilization of diverse alternative materials. We conducted this research to improve an artificial prosthesis by examining the changes of the physical qualities, the pressure related tensile strength, the change in elasticity and the thermostability of a xenograft valve (porcine) and pericardium (bovine, porcine) based on the type of fixation liquid we used. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The xenograft valves and pericardium were assigned into three groups: the untreated group, the fixed with glutaraldehyde (GA) group and the glutaraldehyde with GA+solvent such as ethanol etc. group. The surgeons carried out each group's physical activities. Each group's uniaxial tension and elasticity was measured and compared. Thermostability testing was conducted and compared between the bovine and porcine pericardium fixed with GA group and the GA+solvent group. RESULT: On the physical activity test in the surgeon's hand, no significant difference between the groups was sensed on palpation. For suture and tension, the GA+solvent group was slightly firmer than the low GA concentration group. In general, the circumferential uniaxial tension and elasticity of the porcine aortic and pulmonary valves were better in the fixed groups than that in the untreated group. There was no significant difference between the GA and GA+solvent groups (p>0.05). Bovine and porcine pericardium also showed no significant difference between the GA group and the GA+solvent group (p>0.05). When comparing between the groups for each experiment, the elasticity tended to be stronger in most of the higher GA concentration group (porcine pulmonary valve, porcine pericardium). On the thermostability testing of the bovine and porcine pericardium, the GA group and the GA+solvent group both had a sudden shrinking point at 80degrees C that showed no difference (bovine pericardium: p=0.057, porcine pericardium: p=0.227). CONCLUSION: When fixing xenograft prosthetic devices with GA, adding a solvent did not cause a loss in pressure-tension, tension-elasticity and thermostability. In addition, more functional solvents or cleansers should be developed for developing better xenografts.
Bioprosthesis ; Elasticity ; Ethanol ; Glutaral ; Hand ; Motor Activity ; Palpation ; Pericardium ; Prostheses and Implants ; Pulmonary Valve ; Solvents ; Sutures ; Tensile Strength ; Thoracic Surgery ; Transplantation, Heterologous

BACKGROUND: Various studies and experimental trials have been done to develop bioprosthetic devices to treat complex congenital heart disease due to the limited usage of homograft tissue. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of diamine bridges with using L-lysine, as compared with using ethanol. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Porcine pericardium was fixed at 0.625% GA (commercial fixation). An interim step of ethanol (80%; 1 day at room temperature) or L-lysine (0.1 M; 2 days at 37degrees C) was followed by completion of the GA fixation (2 days at 4degrees C and 7 days at room temperature). The tensile strength and thickness of the porcine percardium were measured, respectively. The treated pericardiums were implanted subcutaneously into three-week old Long-Evans rats for 8 weeks. The calcium content of the implants was assessed by atomic absorption spectroscopy and the histology. RESULT: Ethanol pretreatment (13.6+/-10.0 ug/mg, p=0.008), L-lysine pretreatment (15.3+/-1.0 ug/mg, p=0.002), and both treatment (16.1+/-11.1 ug/mg, p=0.012) significantly inhibited calcification, as compared with the controls (51.2+/-8.5 ug/mg). L-lysine pretreatment (0.18+/-0.02 mm, 1.20+/-0.30 kg f/5 mm) significantly increased the thickness and tensile strength, as compared with ethanol pretreatment (0.13+/-0.03 mm, 0.85+/-0.36 1.0 kg f/5 mm) (p<0.01, p=0.035). CONCLUSION: The diamine bridges using L-lysine seemed to decrease the calcification of porcine pericardium fixed with glutaraldehyde, and this was comparable with Ethanol. Additionally, it seemed to enhance the thickness and tensile strength.
Absorption ; Bioprosthesis ; Calcium ; Ethanol ; Glutaral ; Heart Diseases ; Lysine ; Pericardium ; Rats, Long-Evans ; Spectrum Analysis ; Tensile Strength ; Transplantation, Heterologous ; Transplantation, Homologous

It has been reported that the immune response due to alpha-Gal epitopes is an important factor in tissue valve failure. The elimination of the interaction between the natural anti-Gal antibodies and alpha-gal epitopes on the xenografts is a prerequisite to the success of xenografts in humans. Previously, we reported that the green coffee bean alpha-galactosidase could remove all alpha-Gal epitopes from cell surface of porcine aortic valve and pericardial tissue, but it has limitations on cost effectiveness. In this study we wanted to know whether the recently produced recombinant human alpha-galactosidase A has the same effective enzymatic activity as green coffee bean alpha-galactosidase in removing alpha-Gal epitopes from the same tissues. After treating fresh porcine aortic valve and pericardial tissue with recombinant alpha-galactosidase A, each sample was stained with Griffonia simplicifolia type I isolectin B4 indirect immunoperoxidase avidin-biotin technique. We then examined whether the alpha-Gal epitopes were reduced or abolished in each consecutive concentration of recombinant alpha-galactosidase A by comparing the degree of the Griffonia simplicifolia isolectin B4 staining. As a result, the recombinant alpha-galactosidase A could remove cell surface alpha-Gals on porcine aortic valve and pericardial tissue as effectively as green coffee bean alpha-galactosidase.
Adolescent ; Animals ; Aortic Valve/chemistry/cytology/*immunology ; Child ; Coffea/enzymology ; Epitopes/*immunology ; Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation ; Humans ; Pericardium/chemistry/cytology/*immunology ; Recombinant Proteins/genetics/*immunology ; Swine ; Transplantation, Heterologous/immunology ; alpha-Galactosidase/genetics/*immunology