Abstract 76: Free Flaps as the Vascularized Foundation for Hepatic Tissue Engineering

PURPOSE: Creating patient-specific replacement organs promises to address shortcomings in transplantation, including the need for immunosuppression and limited donor supply. A major roadblock to tissue engineering is the inability to synthesize an intact circulatory system de novo. Thus, tissues produced by the current paradigm of seeding cellular scaffolds are rendered critically ischemic by their reliance on diffusion and eventual vascular ingrowth from the implantation site. Here, we describe a novel approach to fabricate vascularized neo-livers by repurposing the body’s own expendable microcirculatory beds (EMBs). The use of intact fully patterned circulatory beds, which are used clinically in free tissue transfer, allows immediate perfusion of the neo-livers after vascular anastomosis.