Key result
Antibiotic mixtures achieve sterility in only ~64% of tested organisms for heart valve homografts.
Why the study?
Do different antibiotic mixtures effectively achieve sterility in heart valve homografts?
Do different antibiotic mixtures effectively achieve sterility in heart valve homografts?
Sterility tests of homograft heart valves sterilized by antibiotics can be invalidated by antibiotic carry-over, and true sterility was achieved in only a subset of tested organisms.
May invalidate conventional sterility testing of homografts; leaves open whether optimized regimens can ensure clinical safety.
Waterworth, Pamela M., Lockey, Eunice, Berry, E. M., and Pearce, Helen M. (1974).Thorax, 29, 432-436. A critical investigation into the antibiotic sterilization of heart valve homografts. Sterility tests of homograft heart valves sterilized by antibiotics were found to be invalidated by carry-over of the antibiotics. A method was devised to test the efficacy of different antibiotic mixtures using membrane filters. Fifty-five organisms, including 13 species, were tested, and sterility was achieved with only 35.
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Waterworth et al. (1974) studied Heart valve homograft sterilization (n=55). Antibiotic mixtures was evaluated on Sterility. Antibiotic mixtures achieved sterility in only 63.6% (35 of 55) of tested organisms for heart valve homografts, using a membrane filter method to avoid antibiotic carry-over.
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