The cardiac tissues harvested include: the aortic and pulmonary valves, and the pericardium. Cardiac valves have long been used in transplantation surgery and thousands of people currently live with a transplanted cardiac valve. Homologous cardiac tissues (or homografts) have undeniable advantages: they have better hemodynamic characteristics; they avoid the need to administer anticoagulants; they resist infection; they facilitate tissue regeneration; and they last a long time.

Cardiac valves are removed from the heart, decontaminated and cryopreserved in vapor-phase liquid nitrogen at -160°C. Cryopreservation reduces the tissues’ antigenic properties without altering any of the structural and hemodynamic features that influence the valve’s performance. The tissues are stored appropriately in sterile conditions and delivered ready for use to the surgeon in the operating room.

They can be used in all types of patient with aortic valve disease, but are particularly indicated for use in:

• cases of endocarditis;
• women of reproductive age;
• younger people;
• patients with a small aortic root.

The Veneto Regional Authority’s Tissue Bank also distributes patches of pericardial tissue. The pericardium is a serous-fibrous sac that surrounds and protects the heart.

Thanks to its characteristic flexibility, texture, easy manipulation and excellent tensile strength, it is a tissue used in various surgical specialties:

• cardiac surgery: to treat lesions of the pericardium or repair the aortic duct, in congenital valve diseases;
• neurosurgery: to reconstruct the dura mater;
• urology: in cases of penile fibrosis and urogenital prolapse.