Tissue Engineering in Congenital Heart Disease

Congenital heart disease is one of the most prevalent birth defects. Approximately 1% of babies are born with a structural heart defect. Components of the cardiovascular system that may be affected by congenital heart disease include the cardiac wall, septum, heart valves and blood vessels. Many of these cardiac anomalies require surgical correction; however current methods have some limitations. Pediatric patients often require multiple operations as they grow to replace their grafts, which may be either failing or becoming too small in size. Additionally, current materials for organ reconstruction can still not fully integrate with the host tissue and lack regenerative properties. Tissue engineering potentially offers a solution to the pressing problem of tissue damage and shortage of transplant organs. This review article provides an overview of congenital heart defects and outlines the unique needs of children as a patient population. Advances in tissue engineering of cardiac patches, heart valves and blood vessels relevant to congenital heart disease are described. Furthermore, this report outlines the challenges in the field that need to be overcome before tissue engineered myocardium, septum, valves and vessels can become clinical reality for the treatment of pediatric cardiac patients.