Heart valve tissue engineering: how far is the bedside from the bench?. (24th September 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sanz-Garcia, Andres; Oliver-de-la-Cruz, Jorge; Mirabet, Vicente; Gandía, Carolina; Villagrasa, Alejandro; Sodupe, Enrique; Escobedo-Lucea, Carmen
• Is Part Of: Expert reviews in molecular medicine. Volume 17(2015)
• Publication Date: 2015-09-24
• Subjects: Molecular biology -- Periodicals; 616.042
• DOI: 10.1017/erm.2015.15
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1462-3994

Abstract

Abstract : Heart disease, including valve pathologies, is the leading cause of death worldwide. Despite the progress made thanks to improving transplantation techniques, a perfect valve substitute has not yet been developed: once a diseased valve is replaced with current technologies, the newly implanted valve still needs to be changed some time in the future. This situation is particularly dramatic in the case of children and young adults, because of the necessity of valve growth during the patient's life. Our review focuses on the current status of heart valve (HV) therapy and the challenges that must be solved in the development of new approaches based on tissue engineering. Scientists and physicians have proposed tissue-engineered heart valves (TEHVs) as the most promising solution for HV replacement, especially given that they can help to avoid thrombosis, structural deterioration and xenoinfections. Lastly, TEHVs might also serve as a model for studying human valve development and pathologies.