Examination of fixative penetration in glutaraldehyde-treated bovine pericardium by stratigraphic analysis of shrinkage temperature measurements using differential scanning calorimetry.

摘要: Glutaraldehyde stabilizes pericardial tissue in prosthetic heart valves by forming covalent cross-links between collagen molecules. If the cross-linking is nonuniform owing to variable penetration of glutaraldehyde, areas may become sites for enzymatic attack or potentially antigenic. Cross-linking can be easily assessed measuring shrinkage (thermal denaturation) temperature tissue. We used differential scanning calorimetry perform a stratigraphic analysis glutaraldehyde-treated pericardium. In fixation conditions (0.25 per cent glutaraldehyde 28, seven and two days 2 hours), no variation was found measurement throughout thickness This indicates uniform fixative