Tissue welding with virus-sterilized human cryoprecipitate

Clinical use of laser tissue soldering with cryoprecipitate has been delayed by the fear of infecting recipients with donor viral products. Solvent-Detergent (S/D) treatment of human plasma is a technique for disrupting membrane enveloped viruses and rendering them noninfectious. Dual 6 cm incisions were created on the dorsum of nine rats and closed with either standard skin staples of with laser activated S/D cryoprecipitate. The animals were sacrificed at one of three time periods: 0, 2, and 4 days. The use of the laser tissue solder significantly improved tensile strength over standard skin closures at all time periods. Deactivation of viral particles during preparation of cryoprecipitate does not reduce the utility of this material as a solder during laser bonding. Reduced infectivity of S/D prepared products enhances their clinical utility.