Damage of porcine aortic valve tissue caused by the surfactant sodiumdodecylsulphate.

The Hancock T6 treatment uses 1% sodiumdodecylsulphate (SDS) to prevent or delay calcification in porcine aortic or pericardial bioprostheses. In the current study fresh and glutaraldehyde fixed porcine aortic cusps were treated in 1% SDS. The hydrothermal stability, the histological and the electronmicroscopic appearance of the tissue were assessed and compared before and after treatment. The results suggest that the 1% SDS solution destroys the fresh material causing acellularity, extreme fragmentation and swelling of the collagen, together with a significant loss of hydrothermal stability. Glutaraldehyde fixation prior to SDS treatment seems to provide protection against the harmful effects of the 1% SDS, with only one exception on electronmicroscopic examination where foci of collagen degeneration were found.