The Tissue-Engineered Vascular Graft-Past, Present, and Future.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Regenerative Medicine
• Cardiovascular Surgery

Background:

• Cardiovascular disease remains the leading global cause of mortality.
• Vascular stenosis and occlusion necessitate surgical revascularization using grafts.
• Autologous vessels are the gold standard but face availability and harvest limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current state of tissue-engineered vascular graft (TEVG) development.
• To explore diverse methodologies for generating TEVGs.
• To highlight in vivo study outcomes and identify future research directions.

Main Methods:

• Scaffold-based approaches utilizing synthetic and natural polymers.
• Utilization of decellularized natural matrices for TEVG fabrication.
• Tissue self-assembly processes for generating vascular structures.

Main Results:

• Various TEVG generation methods show promise in preclinical and clinical studies.
• In vivo assessments, including clinical trials, provide crucial efficacy data.
• TEVGs aim to overcome the limitations of autologous grafts.

Conclusions:

• TEVGs represent a significant advancement in addressing the need for vascular grafts.
• Further research is essential to optimize cell sources, mechanical properties, and hemodynamics.
• Standardized assessment in animal models is critical for clinical translation.