Comprehensive Preclinical Postmortem Evaluation of Valvular Prosthesis

Abstract

Transcatheter prosthetic valves are heralding a new era in interventional cardiology and affording real therapeutic options to categories of patients currently medically disqualified, namely the elderly and higher risk individuals. An increasing variety of novel artificial valve designs and delivery systems are being tested preclinically. Cardiologists and surgeons are generally well-equipped to assess deliverability and function; however, methods for pathological evaluation of animals enrolled in transcatheter valve implant testing are scant, often vague, and far from consensual. Through this manuscript, we present and discuss a comprehensive evaluation platform that is proving reliable, reproducible, effective, and applicable to most, if not all, types and locations of valvular prostheses.