Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PV-COAT (PROSTHETIC VALVE BIOACTIVE SURFACE COATING TO REDUCE THE PREVALENCE OF THROMBOSIS)

Teaser

Valvular heart disease affects more than 100 million people worldwide, and the problem is growing because of the high incidence of rheumatic heart disease in developing countries and the increasing burden of degenerative valve disease in the ageing population. About 300 000...

Summary

Valvular heart disease affects more than 100 million people worldwide, and the problem is growing because of the high incidence of rheumatic heart disease in developing countries and the increasing burden of degenerative valve disease in the ageing population. About 300 000 prosthetic heart valve replacements are implanted every year worldwide, and this remains the only definitive treatment for the majority of patients with severe valvular heart disease.
Heart valve prostheses are currently among the most widely used cardiovascular devices.
Continuing advances in heart valve prosthesis design and in techniques for implantation have improved the survival length and quality of life of patients who receive these devices. However, to maintain enduring optimal biomechanical properties, the mechanical prostheses, based on carbon, metallic, and polymeric components, require permanent anticoagulation, which often leads to adverse reactions, i.e. higher risks of thromboembolism, hemorrhage, and hemolysis.
The present project aims to improve the hemocompatibility and long-term in vivo performance of mechanical prosthetic heart valves by using a novel bioactive coating.
The ultimate scope is to reduce the need for anticoagulant treatment and its related risk of bleeding. As a final result, the number of revision surgeries performed each year due to valve thrombosis could be reduced.

Work performed

We succeeded to develop a thromboresistant bioactive coating. We have demonstrated the in vitro efficacy of our formulation, as well as the possibility to use it to coat the surface of all materials constituting prosthetic heart valves.

Final results

In an ongoing effort to develop a more durable and biocompatible heart valve prosthesis, researchers have used a variety of techniques to evaluate a variety of valve materials. However, the ideal materials do not exist, and hemocompatibility problems persist.
With the promising advances of our bioactive coating approach, the coated prosthetic heart valves could replace previous generation of prosthetic valves in the near future.