Evidence that deformations which occur during mechanical conditioning of bovine pericardium are not permanent

Natural and glutaraldehyde fixed bovine pericardium samples were mechanically conditioned by a cyclic uniaxial load procedure. The samples tested were controlled for both position and direction in the pericardial sac. The natural tissue demonstrated a significant increase in length and a significant decrease in width after mechanical conditioning. The deformations were not permanent. The test specimens had returned to their original length by 10.5 h after the mechanical test. The control samples of natural tissue showed no significant changes in length during this time. The chemically modified tissue showed a significant increase in length but no significant changes in width or thickness after mechanical conditioning. As in the natural tissue, the length changes were not permanent. Twenty four hours after returning the fixed tissue to its normal buffered glutaraldehyde storage medium the test samples had returned to their original length. A subsequent mechanical retest 8 d after the initial test procedure suggested that the history of the original test had been removed. These observations may be important in the interpretation of 'in vitro' hydrodynamic tests for heart valve substitutes.