Advances in Xenotransplantation, 3D Additive Bioprinting and Gene Therapy for the future of Heart Transplantation

Heart transplantation (HTx) has proved itself to be the definite therapy for patients with end- stage cardiac failure. While HTx remains the cornerstone of the surgical armamentarium, it,s long- term success has resulted in an unbalanced supply- demand equation due to severe scarcity of valid organ donors. Therefore, further developments in the field of transplant therapy remain curtailed, unless other resources are encouraged. The present report is a review on the concept evolution, present status and reasonable outlook of three different, but confluent, emerging therapies, namely, a) xenotransplantation, b) 3D additive bioprinting and c) gene therapy.