Medafor Matters (Details) (USD $) Share data in Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	Nov. 30, 2010 Medafor Inc. [Member]	Nov. 30, 2009 Medafor Inc. [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Medafor Inc. [Member]	Jun. 08, 2012 Medafor Inc. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Medafor Inc. [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 HemoStase Inventory [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 HemoStase Inventory [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 HemoStase Inventory [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Maximum [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Minimum [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Medafor Settlement [Member]
Subsidiary or Equity Method Investee [Line Items]
Number of shares agreed to purchase under stock purchase agreement						2.4	2.4
Shares purchased under stock purchase agreement								2.4		2.4
Carrying value of shares								$ 2,600,000		$ 2,600,000
Original purchase value of shares						4,900,000	4,900,000
Inventories	10,246,000		10,246,000		7,320,000							0	0
Cost of product favorably impacted											330,000
Percent of diluted outstanding stock acquired that will require a future per share payment to be made															50.00%
Period from agreement date that merge occurs that will require a future per share payment to be made														3 years
Proceeds from legal settlement								3,500,000
Value of lawsuit withdrawn against CryoLife									1,200,000
Gain recorded as a reduction in general, administrative, and marketing expenses	16,533,000	14,726,000	48,374,000	42,676,000												4,700,000
Receivable for settlement payments	1,453,000		1,453,000		1,738,000
Discharged reduction in accounts payable pursuant to settlement agreement																$ 1,200,000