Tissue engineering solutions for cleft palates.
OBJECTIVE
Clefts of the lip and palate are the most prevalent congenital craniofacial birth defect in humans. The developing field of tissue engineering is considered for the management of clefts of the lip and palate.


METHODS
A review of the literature was carried out by using electronic databases (such as PubMed and ISI Web of Science) to search topics including "cleft palate," "tissue engineering," "bone engineering," "palate engineering," and "alveolar bone grafting." To reflect current practice and research, these searches were limited primarily to articles published after the year 2000.


RESULTS
Current approaches for the treatment of clefts of the lip and palate include surgery and bone grafts; however, there are limitations associated with these therapies. Tissue engineering strategies, particularly alveolar bone engineering and soft tissue engineering, may provide clinicians with new alternatives. The application of these emerging technologies to a pediatric population must be well considered.


CONCLUSIONS
A tissue engineering approach may be a useful alternative for the treatment of cleft palates as it mitigates the concerns of donor site morbidity as well as provides additional options including scaffold implantation and growth factor delivery.
Moreau
Jennifer L
JL
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
Caccamese
John F
JF
Coletti
Dominick P
DP
Sauk
John J
JJ
Fisher
John P
JP
D000539:Alveolar Process / Q000637:transplantation; D016025:Bone Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000235:genetics / Q000601:surgery*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000235:genetics / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry
D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins