Tissue engineering of the esophagus

Abstract

Esophageal atresia occurs in 1 out of 3000 births. Current treatments involve esophageal replacement by using more distal parts of the gastrointestinal tract, such as the stomach, jejunum, and colon. Significant complications are associated with each treatment option. Tissue engineering may provide a therapeutic alternative for esophageal replacement. This article addresses the progress in esophageal tissue engineering using acellular and cell-seeded approaches. In addition, we discuss the potential direction of future approaches by critically appraising the results in the recent literature.

Keywords: Acellular approach; Cell-seeded approach; Esophageal replacement; Tissue engineering.