Morphological and Chemical Study of Pathological Deposits in Human Aortic and Mitral Valve Stenosis: A Biomineralogical Contribution

Figure 11

Experimental XRD patterns relative to three different types of mineralized human cardiac valves. (a) X-ray diffraction pattern of the untreated powders. (b) X-ray powder diffraction pattern of the biomineralization after the enzymatic attack. The main characteristic peaks match the hydroxylapatite pattern numbers 9–432 from the ICDS. The broadening of the peaks indicates a small crystal size within the nanometer range. a = aortic valve, ab = bicuspid aortic valve, and m = mitral valve.

(a)

(b)