Conclusion:
Current reconstructive surgery of the entire ear pinna remains one of
the biggest challenges for the plastic surgeons. Through this study, the
authors propose generation of tissue-engineered ear pinna as an
alternative to overcome the present limitations in clinical usage of
auricle cartilage grafts such as post-transplant management ear pinna
scaffold, graft biocompatibility, donor limitation, and preservation of
extracellular matrix (ECM), mechanical properties and limitation of
cartilage recellularization.
The present was designed to yield an ideal decellularized biocompatible
scaffold whose post-transplantation recellularization was satisfactorily
characterized for stem cell recruitment and mechanical properties. The
decellularized scaffold that has been obtained is biodegradable,
biocompatible, preserves ECM and thus can reduce post-transplant
management problem.
To summarize, this study highlights a novel approach to generate
xenogenic three-dimensional Tissue Engineered human ear pinna scaffold
for clinical applications.