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Polykandriotis et al. Plast Aesthet Res 2018;5:37 Plastic and
DOI: 10.20517/2347-9264.2018.52 Aesthetic Research

Review Open Access

Prefabricated flaps and neoangiogenesis initiated
via venous grafts in arteriovenous loops

Elias Polykandriotis , Andreas Arkudas , Annika Weigand , Aijia Cai , Raymund E. Horch 1
1
1,2
1
1
1 Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University of Erlangen Medical Center, Erlangen 91054, Germany.
2 Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, Sana Hospital Hof, Academic Teaching Hospital of Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen -
Nurnberg FAU, Erlangen 95032, Germany.
Correspondence to: Dr. Elias Polykandriotis, Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, Sana Hospital Hof, Academic Teaching Hospital
of Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen - Nurnberg FAU, Erlangen 95032, Germany. E-mail: elias.polykandriotis@sana.de

How to cite this article: Polykandriotis E, Arkudas A, Weigand A, Cai A, Horch RE. Prefabricated flaps and neoangiogenesis initiated via
venous grafts in arteriovenous loops. Plast Aesthet Res 2018;5:37. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2347-9264.2018.52

Received: 9 Jul 2018 First Decision: 10 Aug 2018 Revised: 2 Sep 2018 Accepted: 4 Sep 2018 Published: 28 Sep 2018

Science Editor: Raymund Engelbert Horch Copy Editor: Cai-Hong Wang Production Editor: Zhong-Yu Guo

Abstract
New developments in regenerative medicine are bound to revolutionize the way we approach loss of function and form in
human organisms. Especially in the field of reconstructive plastic surgery new biotechnologies find their way from bench
to bed. Biofabrication is an evolving field that aims to combine natural biologic processes with bioartificial constructs
with the scope of reconstituting tissue without having to rely on autotransplantation. In this brief review we present the
concepts of intrinsic vs. extrinsic neovascularization and we discuss the use of neovascularization in three dimensional
matrices. In a clinical context matrix flaps for application in reconstructive surgery can be fabricated this way.

Keywords: Plastic surgery, flap prefabrication, tissue engineering, arteriovenous loop, venous graft, neoangiogenesis

INTRODUCTION
Due to a steadily increasing life span not only in developed countries tissue wear-out or tissue loss becomes
[1]
a growing problem to preserve sufficient quality of life. This holds especially true for elderly patients . The
interdisciplinary field of Tissue Engineering (TE) and Regenerative Medicine (RM) is one area where the
hope for cure of these problems is seen. Within this specialty of life sciences “Biofabrication” recently has been
added as an evolving research field that aims to optimize spatial cell and growth factor delivery into laboratory
[2]
grown constructs to mimic the natural consistency of tissue like structures. According to Groll et al. , from a
research strategy perspective, Biofabrication within TE and RM aims at exploiting automated processes, for

© The Author(s) 2018. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,
and indicate if changes were made.

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