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Tissue engineering of vascular grafts

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Summary

Background

There is a considerable clinical need for a sufficient prosthetic small-diameter substitute which can compete with autologous vessels. Currently used synthetic materials have a poor performance due to high thrombogeneicity and development of intimal hyperplasia. Tissue engineering is an interesting alternative approach for vascular graft fabrication.

Methods

We briefly overviewed the development of tissue-engineered vascular substitutes including endothelialized biohybrid grafts, collagen and fibrin-based scaffolds, decellularized scaffolds, cell self-assembly approaches, and biodegradable constructs based on synthetic polymers.

Results

Significant advances have been made over the past decades in the development of tissue-engineered conduits. Biomechanical weakness, one of the major limitations of biologically based grafts has been resolved and two tissue-engineered grafts are currently under further investigation for clinical application.

Conclusions

Vascular tissue engineering is a promising approach to overcome the limitations of current therapies in small-diameter vascular replacement.

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Conflict of interest

Helga Bergmeister, Magdalena Strobl, Christian Grasl, Robert Liska, and Heinrich Schima declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Biomedical Research, Medical University Vienna, AKH, Waehringer Guertel 18–20, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    H. Bergmeister MD, DVM & M. Strobl MD

  2. Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University Vienna, AKH, Waehringer Guertel 18–20, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    C. Grasl &  H. Schima

  3. Ludwig Boltzmann Cluster for Cardiovascular Research, AKH, Vienna, Austria

    H. Bergmeister MD, DVM, M. Strobl MD,  C. Grasl &  H. Schima

  4. Institute of Applied Synthetic Chemistry, Technical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    R. Liska

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  1. H. Bergmeister MD, DVM
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  3. C. Grasl
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Correspondence to H. Bergmeister MD, DVM.

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Bergmeister, H., Strobl, M., Grasl, C. et al. Tissue engineering of vascular grafts. Eur Surg 45, 187–193 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10353-013-0224-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10353-013-0224-x

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