Performance of decellularized xenogeneic tissue in heart valve replacement

Due to human valve (allograft) scarcity, the concept of decellularization of xenogeneic valves is currently pursued. The two current concepts of guided tissue regeneration and tissue engineering are critically discussed. While guided tissue regeneration shows promising results in animal experiments, there is no scientific evidence that the obtained results might be transferred to the human. The approach of tissue engineering using decellularized xenogeneic heart valves bears enormous potential, however, numerous issues need to be studied and clarified prior potential clinical application.