The first CardioGraft patch with MatrACELL technology implant performed

LifeNet Health, a leading allograft bio-implant company, announces the first implant of a CardioGraft(TM) allograft cardiac patch product with MatrACELL(TM)( )decellularization technology. The surgery was performed at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo by Gary K. Lofland, MD, FACS, Section Chief, Cardiovascular Surgery at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo, The Joseph Boon Gregg/Missouri Endowed Chair in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, Professor of Surgery, UMKC. The initial preclinical testing in large animal models was coordinated by Richard A. Hopkins, MD, Director, Cardiac Surgery Research Laboratories, Chief, Adolescent/Adult Congenital Cardiac Surgery at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo, Professor of Surgery, UMKC.

MatrACELL(TM) Technology is a patented and validated process to render allograft tissue acellular, removing over 99% of the donor genetic material. It is well documented in the surgical literature that the donor cell component of cryopreserved cardiovascular tissue is the source of its three primary failure modes: calcification, stenosis and immunogenicity. MatrACELL(TM) Technology is a methodology that safely removes donor cells from cardiovascular tissues while retaining the native biomechanical strength of the tissue.

"Our mission is saving lives and restoring health. Each year approximately 10,000 invasive cardiac procedures are performed on infants less than one year old who are born with complex congenital heart defects. The CardioGraft(TM) patch with MatrACELL(TM) technology is indicated for many of those procedures and has the potential to improve clinical outcomes and increase implant durability, thus reducing overall healthcare costs," said Rony Thomas, LifeNet Health CEO and President.

"As a pediatric cardiac surgeon, this technology is particularly exciting as it may reduce the number of open heart surgeries many of these patients have to endure over the course of their life," said Dr. Hopkins.

MatrACELL(TM) is one of several process technology platforms that LifeNet Health has developed to enhance the utility and clinical effectiveness of human allograft tissue. LifeNet Health is currently evaluating other applications that can benefit from this break-through technology including skin, cartilage and other cardiovascular tissues.

Source: http://www.lifenethealth.org/