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Updated: Aug 3, 2026

Investigating Aortic Valve Calcification via Isolation and Culture of T Lymphocytes using Feeder Cells from Irradiated Buffy Coat
Published on: February 4, 2021
Frequent detection of viral nucleic acids in heart valve tissue
Oliver Donoso Mantke1, Rudolf Meyer, Susanna Prösch
1Centre for Biological Safety, Robert Koch-Institut, 13353 Berlin, Germany. donosoo@rki.de
Abstract:
Due to a paucity of published data concerning the prevalence of viral nucleic acid in homografts, we analyzed tissue from 30 donor hearts for the presence of viral genome sequences of enteroviruses, adenoviruses, human cytomegalovirus, and influenza virus using different PCR techniques. Viral DNA was amplified in 64 and 52% of the subvalvular myocardial tissue and non-coronary valve samples, respectively. These findings, compared with clinical history and histologic and serologic analysis, demonstrate the importance of viral safety measures in heart valve banking.
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