A Tokyo-based importer of U.S.-made artificial pericardiums linked to inflammation in transplant patients waited six months before warning hospitals after it learned of health risks associated with the product, according to medical sources.
The pericardium is the sac enclosing the heart and the roots of the great vessels.
Jastra Japan Co., which imports the artificial pericardiums from Shellhigh Inc. of the United States, learned in June 1999 that pus had leaked from the wounds of transplant patients at a hospital in eastern Japan, the sources said Monday.