Development and qualification of clinical grade decellularized and cryopreserved human esophagi.

Tissue engineering is a promising alternative to current full thickness circumferential esophageal replacement methods. The aim of our study was to develop a clinical grade Decellularized Human Esophagus (DHE) for future clinical applications. After decontamination, human esophagi from deceased donors were placed in a bioreactor and decellularized with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and ethylendiaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) for 3 days.

Esophagus Decellularization.

In pathologies of the esophagus such as esophageal atresia, cancers and caustic injuries, methods for full thickness esophageal replacement require the sacrifice of healthy intra-abdominal organs such as the stomach and the colon. These methods are associated with high morbidity, mortality and poor functional results. The reconstruction of an esophageal segment by tissue engineering (TE) could answer this problem.