Optimizations of stent and tissue leaflets in a new surgical bovine pericardial valve

Compared with mechanical valves, bovine pericardial valves have satisfactory hemodynamic performance, low risk of infective endocarditis, and low incidence of thromboembolism without long-term anticoagulation treatment (1). Even after decades of continues improvements in tissue leaflets and bioprosthetic valve structure, the existing bioprosthetic valves still have some drawbacks. Although mid- and long-term clinical outcomes of bovine pericardial valves are satisfactory in the literature, the durability is still a major concern because of structural valve deterioration (SVD) (2-6).