Effect of delay between tissue harvest and glutaraldehyde pretreatment on mineralization of bovine pericardium used in bioprosthetic heart valves.

There is concern that delayed glutaraldehyde treatment of bioprosthetic tissue could potentiate calcification by autolytic generation of mineralization nuclei. This study investigated the effects on mineralization of variable delays between harvest of bovine pericardium and initial glutaraldehyde treatment, using tissue implanted subcutaneously in rats for 21 days. Susceptibility to mineralization increased statistically but only modestly with delays to 34 h. This suggests that mineralization will not be significantly inhibited by rapid treatment of otherwise properly handled tissue and that clinically important prevention of calcification will require more dramatic means.