Assisted aortic valve decalcification with the CO2 laser: Study of 15 valves in vitro

Calcification of heart valves is one of the most important reasons for valve replacement surgery (1). Currently available heart valve replacements are not perfect (2–6). Therefore it is desirable to retain the native valve. Many methods, such as manual decalcification, ultrasound (7,8) and balloon valvuloplasty (9) have been tried. Recent studies have suggested the use of lasers (11–13). We decalcified 15 aortic valves removed at surgery in vitro using the CO₂ laser and conclude that this method would be feasible in valves with very minor calcification but inappropriate when the calcification is extensive.