Distance between capillaries in adult heart

Range ~20 µm
Organism Human Homo sapiens
Reference Vunjak-Novakovic G et al., Challenges in cardiac tissue engineering. Tissue Eng Part B Rev. 2010 Apr16(2):169-87. doi: 10.1089/ten.TEB.2009.0352. p.176 left column top paragraph & p.179 right column 3rd paragraphPubMed ID19698068
Primary Source [82] Rakusan K, Flanagan MF, Geva T, Southern J, Van Praagh R. Morphometry of human coronary capillaries during normal growth and the effect of age in left ventricular pressure-overload hypertrophy. Circulation. 1992 Jul86(1):38-46.PubMed ID1535573
Comments P.175 right column bottom paragraph to p.176 left column top paragraph: "Finally, any scenario for implantation of an engineered tissue graft needs to provide a means for effective and timely connection with the host blood supply. This is considered a major challenge of cardiac tissue engineering and the solution is still not on the horizon. However, there are several interesting findings that may provide cues for the development of approaches that could ultimately address the challenges of functional vascularization. Early during embryogenesis, the mammalian heart is largely avascular (ref 81), and the blood vessels form simultaneously with heart development to establish the impressive vascular density in the adult heart with capillary distances of only ~20µm (primary source)."
Entered by Uri M
ID 113202