Short summary

A new cryofreezing technique has meant that in Europe and the USA there are now reports of considerable durability when using transplants of heart valves and arteries from the deceased. A biobank of such was created at OUH in 2021, which will then be the first of its kind in Scandinavia, and the purpose of current studies is to identify subgroups that have a good or bad outcome with such homografts.

Rationale

However, a new freezing technique has meant that in Europe and the USA there are now reports of considerable durability when using heart valves and arteries from the deceased. A biobank of such was created at OUH in 2021, which will then be the first of its kind in Scandinavia, and the purpose of current studies is to identify subgroups that have a good or bad outcome with such homografts.

Description of the cohort

Infection of artificial blood vessels and heart valves is life-threatning and requires urgent surgery with replacement of the infected implants. Despite antibiotic treatment the risk of new infection is significant due to the ongoing infection. Due to new freezing techniques many reports now describe that durability when using heart valves and blood vessels (vascular allografts) from deceased donors is considerable. Vascular allografts have been primarily used for aortic valve replacement, peripheral bypass, hemodialysis graft, and aortic prosthesis infections, and the prognosis seem to be much better regarding survival, durability of reconstruction and thereby absence of multiple interventions when using allografts.

Data and biological material

Data from the patient journal, blood and tissue types, and type of received transplant

Collaborating researchers and departments

Department of Clinical Immunology, Odense University Hospital

• Dorte K Holm
• Anders Nielsen