In vitro evaluation of open heart surgery tubing coated with heparin and lipid

The aim of this work was to evaluate in vitro the tromboresistence, hemolysis tendency, platelet adhesion, cytotoxicity, physicochemical properties, and stability of open-heart tubing coated with fractionated heparin-benzalkonium chloride and/or lipid dipalmitoyl L-alpha-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC). The tendency for clot formation and platelet adhesion was greater in noncoated and lipid-coated tubing than in heparin-coated tubing. There were no significant differences between the hemolytic potentials of coated and noncoated tubing. The coatings were stable during the time of the experiment. The coatings did not present cytotoxicity and physicochemical alterations.