The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 21, 166-167, Copyright © 1976 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
A method for insertion of a stented xenograft valve in the atrioventricular position
G Stefanik, GG Lindesmith, BL Tucker and BW Meyer
To facilitate the insertion of prosthetic valves, holders are available
which keep the poppet out of the area of suture insertion or keep the open
ends of the struts occluded. No such holders are available for use during
insertion of xenograft valves, and it seems unlikely that one could be
used, for danger of damage to the valve leaflets. To obviate this problem,
we have brought the flexible struts together with a suture at the time of
insertion. The struts assume their original open position upon cutting the
suture.