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Updated: Aug 16, 2026
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Published on: August 25, 2023
A stentless trileaflet valve from a sheet of decellularized porcine small intestinal submucosa
Jennifer K White1, Arvind K Agnihotri, James S Titus
1Division of Cardiac Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. jkwhite@partners.org
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the function of a trileaflet pulmonary valve constructed from a sheet of porcine small intestinal submucosa.
Description:
In four sheep, the native pulmonary valve and a segment of the pulmonary trunk was excised and replaced with a trileaflet valve constructed from decellularized porcine small intestinal submucosa. The valve construct was created from a sheet of the xenograft material by a method of involuting flaps of tissue inside a cylinder of itself. The function of the valve was assessed by echocardiography, catheter pullback across the valve, and observation of an excised valve in a flow simulator.
Evaluation:
The valve constructs exhibited low gradients and symmetrical leaflet movement with good mobility when tested under physiologic conditions in an acute sheep model.
Conclusions:
This method offers a means to create a functional trileaflet valve replacement from a sheet of tissue.
