Due to morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular diseases around the globe, there has been an unmet clinical need for small caliber vascular grafts. Autologous vessels are still the gold standard for small caliber vascular grafts (<6 mm). In an attempt to develop a tissue-engineered vascular graft, several approaches have been pursued. One of the promising techniques is the use of acellular matrices offering a prospect of being able to meet the demand for small caliber vessels. Acellular matrices can ideally preserve the vascular wall complexity, biochemical properties, and bioactivity required for tissue regeneration and function. Various strategies have emerged to increase long term patency of acellular matrices including surface modification and pre-implantation cell seeding. This article reviews the most recent and relevant in vivo studies on acellular small caliber vascular grafts, which provides an outlook toward the preclinical potential of acellular extracellular matrices in vascular tissue engineering.

中文翻译：

---

作为小口径血管移植物的脱细胞细胞外基质的临床前研究。

由于全球心血管疾病的发病率和死亡率，对小口径血管移植物的临床需求一直未得到满足。自体血管仍然是小口径血管移植（<6 mm）的金标准。为了开发组织工程的血管移植物，已经寻求了几种方法。一种有前途的技术是使用无细胞基质，这有望满足对小口径血管的需求。无细胞基质可以理想地保留组织再生和功能所需的血管壁复杂性，生化特性和生物活性。已经出现了多种策略来增加无细胞基质的长期开放性，包括表面修饰和植入前的细胞接种。