No abstract

Tracheal stenosis is a life-threatening disease and current treatments include surgical reconstruction with autologous rib cartilage and the highly complex slide tracheoplasty surgical technique. We propose using a sustainable implant, composed of a tunable, fibrous scaffold with encapsulated chondrogenic growth factor (transforming growth factor-beta3 [TGF-β3]) or seeded allogeneic rabbit bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs). In vivo functionality of these constructs was determined by implanting them in induced tracheal defects in rabbits for 6 or 12 weeks. The scaffolds maintained functional airways in a majority of the cases, with the BMSC-seeded group having an improved survival rate and the Scaffold-only group having a higher occurrence of more patent airways as determined by microcomputed tomography. The BMSC group had a greater accumulation of inflammatory cells over the graft, while also exhibiting normal epithelium, subepithelium, and cartilage formation. Overall, it was concluded that a simple, acellular scaffold is a viable option for tracheal tissue engineering, with the intraoperative addition of cells being an optional variation to the scaffolds.

No abstract

Windpipe defects result in decreased quality of life for the patient, making breathing, speaking, and swallowing difficult. Disorders of the trachea requiring intervention methods not adequately treated by slide tracheoplasty or cartilage augmentation necessitate the use of prosthetic material to expand the trachea. Furthermore, some donor site morbidity occurs with augmentation techniques and size or shape mismatches are not uncommon. Tissue engineering has the potential to create effective replacement trachea-like tissue for procedures like laryngotracheal reconstruction and may circumvent these problems.

No abstract