Abstract
Heart valve disease is a significant medical problem worldwide. Treatment for end-stage disease is heart valve replacement, but both mechanical and bioprosthetic replacement heart valves suffer from significant limitations. Promising alternatives to currently available replacement heart valves are being developed using the basic principles of tissue engineering. Significant progress has been made in the development of a tissue-engineered heart valve substitute, including the characterization and development of various different cell sources and cell seeding techniques, advancements in natural and polymer matrix and scaffold design, and the creation of bioreactors, which are biomimetic devices used to modulate the in vitro development of tissue-engineered neotissue through the application of biochemical and biomechanical stimuli. This chapter addresses the need for a tissue-engineered alternative to current heart valve replacement options and reviews past and ongoing work in the field. The basics of heart valve structure, function, and disease are presented and followed by a review of investigations leading to the development of a tissue-engineered heart valve, including the critical challenges that remain.
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