title: Current developments and future prospects for heart valve replacement therapy.
abstract: Valve replacement is the most common surgical treatment in patients with advanced valvular heart disease. Mechanical and bio-prostheses have been the traditional heart valve replacements in these patients. However, currently the heart valves for replacement therapy are imperfect and subject patients to one or more ongoing risks, including thrombosis, limited durability, and need for re-operations due to the lack of growth in pediatric populations. Furthermore, they require an open heart surgery, which is risky for elderly and young children who are too weak or ill to undergo major surgery. This article reviews the current state of the art of heart valve replacements in light of their potential clinical applications. In recent years polymeric materials have been widely studied as potential prosthetic heart valve material being designed to overcome the clinical problems associated with both mechanical and bio-prosthetic valves. The review also addresses the advances in polymer materials, tissue engineering approaches, and the development of percutaneous valve replacement technology and discusses the future prospects in these fields.
authors.affiliation: Biomaterial and Tissue Engineering Centre (BTEC), Academic Division of Surgery & Interventional Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Asmeret G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Kidane
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Burriesci
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cornejo
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dooley
authors.forename: Sandip
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bonhoeffer
authors.forename: Mohan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Edirisinghe
authors.forename: Alexander M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Seifalian
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000639:trends*; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation / Q000639:trends; D006351:Heart Valves / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D010969:Plastics; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D012756:Sheep; D013927:Thrombosis; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D010969:Plastics; D011108:Polymers