Biomimetic Materials and Scaffolds for Myocardial Tissue Regeneration

One of the main challenges in tissue engineering/regenerative medicine (TERM) is the repair of damaged heart tissue, avoiding or minimizing ventricular remodeling which leads to ventricular dilatation and hypertrophy, sphericity increase, and functionality loss. Several approaches have been described to restore or enhance the contractility of the failing heart. One of them is based on the fabrication of 3D substrates that can be implanted in the infarcted area to provide an efficient support to the regenerative process. This review focuses on the strategies adopted to design and realize polymeric scaffolds for heart TERM. The implementation of different polymers and the design of scaffold architecture are described. A comprehensive review of the progress made in cardiac tissue engineering/regenerative medicine over the past 15 years is presented, concerning both the scaffold‐forming materials and the fabrication procedures of the scaffold itself. The advantages and disadvantages of each approach are analyzed and discussed in detail.