Children with severe congenital malformations, such as single-ventricle anomalies, have a daunting prognosis. Heart transplantation
would be a therapeutic option but is restricted due to a lack of suitable donor organs and, even in case of successful heart
transplantation, lifelong immune suppression would frequently be associated with a number of serious side effects. As an alternative
to heart transplantation and classical cardiac reconstructive surgery, tissue-engineered myocardium might become available
to augment hypomorphic hearts and/or provide new muscle material for complex myocardial reconstruction. These potential applications
of tissue engineered myocardium will, however, impose major challenges to cardiac tissue engineers as well as heart surgeons.
This review will provide an overview of available cardiac tissue-engineering technologies, discuss limitations, and speculate
on a potential application of tissue-engineered heart muscle in pediatric heart surgery.
Keywords Congenital heart disease - Tissue engineering - Myocardial repair - Regeneration - Stem cells