Tissue engineered human heart valves

The is no ideal heart valve substitute,
both mechanical and biologic heart
valve have significant limitation in term
of durability, growth potential (for infant
and children), compatibility, resistance
to infection(1).
Tissue-engineered heart valve have been
proposed by physicians and scientists
alike to be the ultimate solution for
treating valvular heart disease rather than
replacing a diseased or defective native
valve with a mechanical or bioprosthesis,
a tissue engineered valve would be a living
organ with the capability for growth,
repair and remodeling in the same way
that the native heart valve does.
Over the last decade attempts to create
tissue engineered heart valve have been
made with varying degrees of success,
constructing these valve from a Varity of
cell types and scaffolding materials. Early
results in animals and limited clinical
application are promising although it
will take many years to demonstrate that
long-term performance of this valve is
comparable or better than conventional
prosthetic heart valve.