Flow induced platelet activation in a St. Jude mechanical heart valve, a trileaflet polymeric heart valve, and a St. Jude tissue valve

Abstract: Polymer heart valves have been under investiga-tion since the 1960s, but their success has been hampered by an overall lack of durability mainly due to calcification of the leaflets and a relatively high rate of thromboem-bolic complications. A new polymer (Quatromer) trileaflet design was tested for its thrombogenic potential and was compared to that of existing prosthetic heart valves rou-tinely implanted in patients: a St. Jude Medical bileaflet mechanical heart valve (MHV) and a St. Jude porcine bio-prosthetic tissue valve. The valves were mounted in a left ventricular assist device and the procoagulant activity of the platelets was measured using a platelet activation state (PAS) assay. The PAS measurements indicated that the platelet activation level induced by the polymeric valve was very similar to that induced by the St. Jude Medical MHV and the St. Jude tissue valve. No significant difference was observed between the three valves, indicating that they have a comparable thrombogenic potential. Key Words: Thrombogenic—Polymer trileaflet valve—Bioprosthetic tissue valve—Left ventricular assist device—Mechanical heart valve