Mechanical and histological characteristics of human trachea before and after cryopreservation: an opportunity for tracheal tissue banking

TRACHEAL reconstruction after extensive resection remains an unsolved surgical problem. Several methods of substitution have been tested including prosthetic material or autologous tissue, but none of them replaced the native trachea adequately. Recent studies indicate that cryopreserved tracheal allograft can be proposed as substitution material in animals models. The aim of this study was to document mechanical and histologic characteristics of human trachea (HT) before and after cryopreservation using different cryoprotectants.