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Updated: Sep 27, 2025
Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Replacement from Autologous Pericardium with a Self-Expandable Nitinol Stent in an Adult Sheep Model
Published on: June 8, 2022
Long-term performance of untreated fresh autologous pericardium as a valve substitute in pulmonary position
Shantanu Pande1, Amitabh Arya2, Surendra K Agarwal1
1Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Background:
Pulmonary regurgitation is imminent after transannular patch (TAP). We analyze the long-term performance of untreated autologous pericardium (UAP) as valve substitute at pulmonary position in patients requiring TAP.
Material And Methods:
This cross-sectional study include patients operated between 2007 and 2012 (n = 92). A sample of 19 patients was selected for this study which had a follow-up of more than 3 years. This includes patients with no TAP (n = 4) and with TAP and valve substitute, a monocusp (n = 11) or a tricuspid valve (n = 4) at neopulmonary annulus. Patients underwent echocardiography for assessment of right ventricle function and 18 fluoro-deoxyglucose PET CT scan for measurements of valve substitute at neopulmonary annulus. The target to blood ratio (TBR) of uptake of glucose by monocusp was measured at the cooptation edge of the neopulmonary valve.
Results:
The median age of the patients is 14 (9 - 37). RV function is preserved (TAPSE 18.9 (10.6 - 22.8)) at a mean follow-up of 4 years (3-9). The measurements of monocusp shows a shrinkage in height of the cusp by 35.5% (70% - 1.0%) and length by 7% (-44% - +104%). There was less shrinkage observed in patients below 15 years of age. The TBR of monocusp was 0.945 (0.17 - 3.35) with a strong correlation between the TBR values of aortic valve leaflet and monocusp leaflet of same patient.
Conclusion:
The UAP is functional and successful as a valve substitute at neo pulmonary annulus at long-term follow-up. It has resisted calcification and has shown uptake of glucose in physiological limits.
