Fabrication of Implantable Human Arterial Graft by Periodic Hydrostatic Pressure

Structural heart disease is the most common congenital anomaly, affecting almost 1% of live births [1]. Approximately 25% of newborns with congenital heart disease (CHD) require surgical or trans-catheter intervention in the first year of life [2]. Artificial materials such as polytetrafluoroethylene are used for the surgical repair of CHD, but these materials lack growth potential and lead to stenosis according to patient’s growth. Therefore, biological tissue-engineered blood vessels are desired for pediatric patients. Recently, we fabricated implantable “scaffold-free” grafts consisting of rat vascular smooth muscle cells by periodic hydrostatic pressure (PHP) [3]. Here we aimed to fabricate implantable human grafts and examine the molecular response to PHP.