The Hindu : Kerala News : MoU for harvesting pig heart valves

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 26, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

MoU for harvesting pig heart valves

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, NOV. 25. The Chennai-based International Centre for Cardio Thoracic and Vascular Diseases and the Meat Products of India (MPI) have entered into a partnership to harvest pig heart valves and ureters which can be processed and transplanted in place of synthetic valves and blood vessels in human beings.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed here today by the cardiac surgeon and founder-director of the International Centre for Cardio Thoracic and Vascular Diseases, K.M. Cherian, and D. Jayachandran, managing director of the MPI. The Agriculture Minister, K. R. Gouri, was present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Cherian said that biological substitutes were being sought in place of artificial heart valves because tissue valves were more compatible than synthetic ones.

He pointed out that pig heart valves were an ideal biological substitute in human beings because the scaffold of the pig's heart valve and the human valve "are the same." Also, there was a shortage of donor valves for replacing diseased heart valves in patients with rheumatic heart disease or for replacing blood vessels in those with diabetic foot.

Indigenous technology

Dr. Cherian said that the pig heart valve is removed in a sterile condition and processed in Chennai. The valves are `de-cellularised' so that there are no more pig cells in them and hence no chances of rejection also.He said that he had successfully grafted pig heart valves in five persons and that they were all doing well. The technology is indigenous and cost effective also. The total expense for the processed and readied pig heart valve is just Rs.20,000, he pointed out.

The pig's ureter or the tube connecting the kidneys to the bladder could be processed and used to replace damaged blood vessels, especially in diabetic patients with foot gangrene, Dr. Cherian said. Dr. Cherian said that he had chosen the MPI for harvesting pig heart valves because he was fully satisfied with the quality of standards and scientific techniques in animal slaughter followed by the MPI and the aseptic environment it can provide.

Also, 6,000 pigs were slaughtered at the MPI a year, which meant that there would be no shortage of heart valves in bulk, he pointed out.

Robert Bruce Karp, Professor of Surgery, University of Alabama and Chicago, who has done extensive research on using porcine heart valves in human beings, also spoke on the occasion. The chairman, MPI, Paul Joseph, presided over the function.

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