title: Heart valve tissue engineering: how far is the bedside from the bench?
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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmaceutical Biosciences,Faculty of Pharmacy,University of Helsinki,Viikinkaari 5 E,P.O. Box 56,00014 Helsinki,Finland.
authors.forename: Andres
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sanz-Garcia
authors.affiliation: International Clinical Research Center,Integrated Center of Cellular Therapy and Regenerative Medicine,St. Anne's University Hospital,Brno,Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oliver-de-la-Cruz
authors.affiliation: Cell and Tissue Bank,Regional Transfusion Center,Valencia,Spain.
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mirabet
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmaceutical Biosciences,Faculty of Pharmacy,University of Helsinki,Viikinkaari 5 E,P.O. Box 56,00014 Helsinki,Finland.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gandía
authors.affiliation: Hospital Fundación Jimenez Diaz,IIS-FJD,28040 Madrid,Spain.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Villagrasa
authors.affiliation: EDMANS Group,University of La Rioja,C/Luis de Ulloa 20,26004 Logrono,Spain.
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sodupe
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmaceutical Biosciences,Faculty of Pharmacy,University of Helsinki,Viikinkaari 5 E,P.O. Box 56,00014 Helsinki,Finland.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Escobedo-Lucea
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001705:Bioprosthesis; D002648:Child; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D005337:Fibrin / Q000737:chemistry; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006351:Heart Valves / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D057026:Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D012756:Sheep; D013552:Swine; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
chemical_list: D005337:Fibrin; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid; D003094:Collagen