[Prosthesis of the aortic valve by a loose allograft]

A procedure has been developed to prepare live aortic allografts, which consists in taking a valve early after a donor's death, sterilizing it in antibiotics and freezing it to -190 degrees C in the presence of the cryoprotective agent dimethylsulfoxide. The preservation of valve tissue is evidenced by morphological studies. The first 3 operations for aortic valvular diseases were performed. In two cases, the indication for surgery was infectious endocarditis refractory to antibiotic therapy. Postimplantation complications were not seen. The competence of the allograft was confirmed by intraoperative transesophageal echocardiographical study. The patients examined 4 months postoperation developed no signs of aortic incompetence and infectious endocarditis. Thus, the creation of a bank of live valves allows this prosthesis to be implanted with appropriate indications, one of which is active infectious endocarditis of the aortic valve.