A Colombian woman has made medical history by becoming the first person to
receive a whole organ transplant grown using her own cells.
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TRANSPLANT FIRST: A Colombian woman has received the world's first tailor-made trachea transplant, grown by seeding a donor organ with her own stem cells to prevent her body rejecting it. |
Experts said the operation signaled a new age in surgical care as the use of
stem cells and tissue engineering radically improved their ability to treat
patients with serious diseases.
Claudia Castillo, a 31-year-old now living in Barcelona underwent the
operation to replace her windpipe after tuberculosis had left her with a
collapsed lung and unable to breathe.
The new trachea was bioengineered by growing Ms Castillo's own cells, taken
from her bone marrow, inside a donor's windpipe.
The tube to Ms Castillo's left lung was also replaced.
Ms Castillo has suffered no complications from the surgery and was discharged
from hospital 10 days after her operation.
Unlike patients of traditional transplants, Ms Castillo has not had to take
immunosuppressants as her body had not attempted to reject the new windpipe.
Today she says she is able to care for her children, walk up two flights of
stairs and occasionally go out dancing in the evenings, activities which were
previously impossible.
The University of Bristol's Professor of Surgery Martin Birchall, who helped
with the case, told The Independent that the technique could initially
be extended to growing other hollow organs such as the bowel, bladder and
reproductive tract.
It could later be extended to solid organs including the heart, liver and
kidneys, he said.
This article was originally published in stuff.co.nz.
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