Trachea

Abstract

Clinical replacement of the trachea using either prosthetic materials or allo- or composite autografts has been attempted since the beginning of the last century but always failed because of the impossibility to vascularize the trachea and need of heavily immunosuppression. Tissue engineering, providing a new concept for tissue regeneration and transplatation, could represent a real and promising solution. In particular, extracellular matrix-derived materials, obtained by a detergent-enzymatic method, have shown to act as a good template for tracheal tissue ingrowth and remodelling. Our recent successfully clinically transplantation of a decellularized human donor trachea, recellularized by autologous epithelial and adult stem cells, provides evidence that the time of bench to bedside tissue engineering technology has come.