Tissue-derived biomaterials and their use in cardiovascular prosthetic devices

A variety of tissues and tissue components, ranging from allograft and xenograft tissues to albumin- and collagen-coated synthetic materials, have been used to fabricate cardiovascular prosthetic devices. Tissue-derived biomaterials include both viable and non-viable tissues as well as individual tissue components which have undergone some degree of preimplantation processing. A review of the biochemistry, immunogenicity, mechanical properties, physicochemical properties, preimplantation processing and the morphology of the following cardiovascular prostheses are discussed: heart valve bioprostheses and allografts; blood vessel allografts; biologic vascular grafts; and, protein-coated vascular prostheses. This review focuses on the generic aspects of prosthetic device fabrication using tissue-derived biomaterials, realizing that specific differences between various commercially available prostheses may exist.