Abstract
Bioabsorbable materials made from polymeric compounds have been used in many fields of regenerative medicine to promote tissue regeneration. These materials replace autologous tissue and, due to their growth potential, make excellent substitutes for cardiovascular applications in the treatment of congenital heart disease. However, there remains a sizable gap between their theoretical advantages and actual clinical application within pediatric cardiovascular surgery. This review will focus on four areas of regenerative medicine in which bioabsorbable materials have the potential to alleviate the burden where current treatment options have been unable to within the field of pediatric cardiovascular surgery. These four areas include tissue-engineered pulmonary valves, tissue-engineered patches, regenerative medicine options for treatment of pulmonary vein stenosis and tissue-engineered vascular grafts. We will discuss the research and development of biocompatible materials reported to date, the evaluation of materials in vitro, and the results of studies that have progressed to clinical trials.
Highlights
Separating the right ventricle (RV) and pulmonary trunk, the pulmonary valve (PV) is a tri-leaflet structure leading to the lower pressure pulmonary system
These findings suggest that the prognosis of pulmonary vein stenosis may be improved by controlling excessive intimal thickening associated with post-anastomotic inflammation and rapid somatic growth in children
To elucidate the mechanism of this early stenosis, we developed a computational model for our Tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) using a data-driven design (Figure 5)
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. A significant portion of cardiac surgery morbidity and mortality is attributed to the synthetic conduits and patches frequently used for cardiac repair Made from materials such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE or Gore-Tex), these artificial materials are susceptible to thrombogenicity, stenosis, iatrogenic calcification, immune rejection, and infection [3,4]. Regenerative medicine provides a potential solution to the use of these various materials, allowing for the added benefit of avoiding issues such as immune rejection, somatic overgrowth, infection, and calcification [6,7] This is made possible through the strategy of implanting a bioabsorbable scaffold that degrades over time which is replaced with autologous vascular tissue that can repair, reform, and even grow with the patient [8]. We will discuss the real needs of regenerative medicine from the standpoint of pediatric cardiovascular surgery, focusing on the current status of regenerative engineering valves, regenerative engineering patches, and regenerative medicine for pulmonary vein stenosis using bioabsorbable materials [12,13]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
