Glossary of Terms

Aortic Homograft
A homograft is a procedure where the patient's organ is replaced using a donor's organ. In terms of aortic homograft, the patient's aorta is replaced with a donor's aorta. An aortic homograft can be taken from two sources: human cadaver, and human heart transplant recipient whose replaced heart had a healthy aortic valve.

The Ross Procedure is one type of aortic homograft procedure where the patient's aortic valve is replaced with his own pulmonary valve. A pulmonary homograft valve (valve taken from a donor) then replaces the patient's pulmonary valve. One advantage to the Ross Procedure is that the patient does not need to take blood thinner medication after surgery.