Why the study?
Does glycerine solution alter the leaflet opening characteristics of tissue heart valves during in-vitro testing?
Does glycerine solution alter the leaflet opening characteristics of tissue heart valves during in-vitro testing?
Glycerine solution, which matches the viscosity of blood, can be safely used for in-vitro testing of tissue heart valves without stiffening the leaflets.
Glycerine solution preserves leaflet opening in tissue valves; supports in-vitro protocols but leaves open in-vivo validation.
Glycerol solution with the viscosity coefficient similar to that of blood is used in evaluating the performance characteristics of prosthetic heart valves in the laboratory. However, physiological saline solution is used as a test fluid in testing tissue heart valves even though the viscosity coefficient does not match that of human blood. It is commonly believed that glycerol is absorbed by the tissue valves and hence the leaflets become stiff, making the test results invalid. However, in our laboratory a comparison of tissue valves exposed to glycerine solution at various times does not indicate any difference in the leaflet opening characteristics. Hence, it is suggested that glycerine solution be used as a test fluid for the evaluation of tissue valves also.
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Chandran et al. (1984) studied this question.
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