A Step Toward Tissue-Engineered Heart Valves for Children

Newswise — Infants and children who receive replacements for missing or malformed heart valves face a high frequency of re-operations, since the prosthetic replacements cannot grow along with the child. Researchers Virna Sales, MD, and John Mayer, MD, in Children's Hospital Boston's Department of Cardiac Surgery, have developed a tissue engineering technique for creating biological replacements for pulmonary valves (those between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery). They isolated cells from the blood, known as endothelial progenitor cells, and "seeded" them onto tiny biodegradable molds that were pre-coated with proteins found in the natural "matrix" that surrounds and supports cells. Using this technique, recently reported at the American Heart Association meeting, they were able to make pulmonary valve leaflets (flaps) with the desired cellular characteristics and mechanical flexibility.