Tissue Engineering for Urinary Tract Reconstruction

Abstract

Context: Urinary tract is subjected to various pathologic conditions, such as congenital anomalies, trauma, cancer, stenosis, and inflammatory injuries. Evidence Acquisition: Reconstruction of the urinary tract is limited due to lack of sufficient donor tissue and problems of tissue incompatibility. Results: This limitation has convinced urologists to develop another technique for tissue replacement. Conclusions: Tissue engineering and biomaterials science are attractive approaches to substituting the urinary tract wall. Three main components of tissue engineering include cells, appropriate scaffold materials, and bioactive molecules, such as growth factors. This review summarized the cell sources, scaffolds, and recent methods used for urinary tract reconstruction.