Artificial Organs 2009: A Year in Review

Abstract

In this editor's review, all articles published in 2009 are organized by category and briefly summarized. As Artificial Organs continues in the original mission of its founders "to foster communications in the field of artificial organs on an international level," we strive to publish the very best developments and clinical applications of artificial organ technologies in this broad and expanding field. In this editor's review, we aim to provide a reflection of the currently available worldwide knowledge that is intended to advance and improve human life while providing insight for continued application of technologies and methods of organ replacement, recovery, and regeneration. APHERESISClaudia Stefanutti et al. (1) of the University of Rome, Rome, Italy studied lowering lipoprotein Lp(a) using a reusable low density lipoprotein (LDL)-adsorber that allowed the removal of both LDL and Lp(a) from plasma. Two male patients with hyper-Lp(a) lipoproteinemia, without elevation of LDL-cholesterol, who had not responded to diet and medication were submitted to 50 LDL Lp(a) aphereses at weekly and biweekly intervals. Total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and Lp(a) plasma levels fell significantly. High density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentrations in plasma did not show a statistically significant change. Clinically, all sessions were well tolerated and no undesired reactions were reported. The adsorber's reusability for several sessions was confirmed.Claudia Stefanutti et al.(2) also reported on a multicenter study of therapeutic exchange (TPE) in patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia (sHTG). Seventeen patients who had not responded to conventional medical therapy (fat-free diet plus pharmaceutical interventions) were referred for TPE. Two hundred and seventeen TPE sessions were performed, and therapy is ongoing for 29.4% of the patients. After treatment, the mean plasma TG and total cholesterol concentrations were significantly reduced. The removal of triglyceride-richlipoproteins prevented relapses of acute pancreatitis. TPE provides a therapeutic option for preventing life-threatening sHTG. BLOOD SUBSTITUTESSabura Neya et al.(3) of Chiba University, Inage-Yayoi, Chiba, Japan evaluated the biological function of the core modified porphyrin isomers such as porphycene, corrphycene, and hemiporphycene. The iron complexes stoichiometrically coupled with apomyoglobin afford stable holoproteins. The oxygen affinity of the reconstituted myoglobins (Mb) changed over a 60 000-fold range depending on the

Tissue‐Engineered Heart Valve: Future of Cardiac Surgery

“…The main advantage of autologous stem cells use is that harvesting is minimally invasive [33] and ethical concerns regarding embryonic stem cells are avoided. It also has been proven that MSCs respond to mechanical stimuli [34][35][36][37][38] and once coated on polyglycolic acid/poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) nonwoven, a biodegradable scaffold, remodeling to a natural-like heart valve structure occurs [39]. MSCs seeded scaffolds are said to accumulate less collagen than equivalents of a different origin [39].…”