Novel PGA Fiber Textile Technology and Immunomodulation with PGS Coating for Improved Neotissue Formation of Small Diameter Tissue Engineered Arterial Grafts - ICI Meeting 2016, 4-6 December, 2016, David Intercontinental Hotel, Tel Aviv, Israel

Takuma Fukunishi ¹ Huaitao Zhang ¹ Chin Siang Ong ¹ Andrew Nashed ¹ Jochen Steppan ² Lakshmi Santhanam ² Dan Berkowitz ² Carissa Smoot ³ Seth Winner ³ Steven Lu ³ Jeremy Harris ³ Luca Vricella ¹ Narutoshi Hibino ¹

¹Cardiac Surgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, USA
²Anesthesiology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, USA
³Research, The Secant Group, USA

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate new technologies to improve neotissue formation of small diameter arterial tissue engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs).

Methods: Fast degrading polyglycolide (PGA) fibers were braided into tubes under different conditions to create 1.5 mm small diameter grafts using textile engineering technology. Half of the grafts were coated with the biodegradable elastomer polyglycerol sebacate (PGS). The grafts were implanted in a rat aorta model without cell seeding and harvested 4 weeks after surgery to evaluate vascular neotissue formation.

Results: All grafts demonstrated well-organized neotissue without stenosis, aneurysm, or dilatation. The partially degraded PGA scaffold promoted rapid extracellular matrix remodeling. The PGS coating significantly reduced macrophage infiltration and vascular calcification compared to non-coated grafts.

Conclusion: The TEVGs fabricated with novel PGA braiding technology promoted rapid well-organized neotissue formation in arterial circulation. Immunomodulation with PGS coating reduced inflammation and calcification of the TEVGs.