Pretreatment of glutaraldehyde-fixed porcine aortic valves with citric acid established a surface more suitable for cellular attachment. Preseeding these valves with autologous fibroblasts resulted in a confluent endothelial cell layer on the luminal surface. Flow tests and animal experiments are necessary for further assessment of durability and shear stress resistance.

No abstract

Seeding of a mixed culture consisting of FBs and SMC resulted in an excellent EC adhesion and resistance to shear stress. Cell attachment was better on gamma-sterilized PUVPs compared to Eto-sterilization. The cells obviously maintained their ability to adapt to shear stress.

An adaptation phase of 30 minutes proved to be sufficient to allow artificially seeded endothelial cells to adapt to shear stress. The formation of a basement membrane was of great importance for the maintenance of a confluent EC layer.

No abstract