title: Prospects in lyophilization of bovine pericardium.
abstract: Almost 30 years after the introduction of heart valve prostheses patients worldwide are benefiting from the implant of these devices. Among the various types of heart valves, the ones made of treated bovine pericardium have become a frequently used replacement of the heart's native valve. Lyophilization, also known as freeze-drying, is an extremely useful technique for tissue storage for surgical applications. This article gives a brief overview on the current bovine pericardium lyophilization development, including the chemical modification to improve physical-chemical characteristics and the advanced technologies used to guarantee a high-quality product. It was shown that lyophilization process can be successfully applied as a method of bovine pericardium preservation and also as a technological tool to prepare new materials obtained by chemical modification of native tissues.
authors.affiliation: Center of Biomedical Technology of the Heart Institute (Incor), University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Adolfo A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Leirner
authors.forename: Virgílio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tattini
authors.forename: Ronaldo N M
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Pitombo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D005612:Freeze Drying / Q000379:methods*; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D010496:Pericardium / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents