Cell-based tissue-engineered urethras.

摘要

Atlantida Raya-Rivera and colleagues (April 2, p 1175) present a clinical trial of urethroplasty with autologous tissue-engineered tubularised urethras in five patients with complex and long urethral defects; the results are very promising after a median follow-up of 71 months. The seeded cells grew well on the scaffold surface under standard culture conditions. However, Raya-Rivera and colleagues do not indicate whether the cells penetrated and distributed well within this scaffold, producing urethra-like tissue.