Animal experiments of valve replacement with bioprosthetic pulmonary valve conduit

AIM: To assess hemodynamic performance of right ventricular outflow tract and pulmonary artery reconstruction (RV-PA) in dogs. METHODS: Eight adult dogs underwent implanted bioprosthetic pulmonary valved conduit in pulmonary position under cardiopulmonary bypass with beating heart. Right ventricular and pulmonary artery pressures were measured directly before and after implantation. RESULTS: Six adult dogs survived in good condition after surgery and survived 1 month after implantation. One dog died from mismatch of prosthetic valve at postoperative day 10. The other dog died due to respiratory failure . The mean gradient was not different significantly between discharge and the post-operation. CONCLUSION: The new bioprosthetic pulmonary valve conduit shows good performance in animal experiments and good short-term hemodynamic performance.