World's first successful whole organ transplant
The tissue-engineered organ transplant has been declared a success
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Wednesday, 19, Nov 2008 10:35
The world's first tissue-engineered whole organ transplant has been declared a success.
The organ was made by growing the patient's own stem cells to reconstruct her windpipe.
Spanish surgeons gave Claudia Castillo a new organ structure, a donor trachea from a recently deceased patient.
The donor windpipe bolstered in the throats cell regeneration.
Ms Castillo, a 30-year old mother of two, suffered from tuberculosis and she was left with only one collapsed lung.
It only took a month before the transplant developed its own blood supply. This operation was the first tissue transplant that did not use anti-rejection drugs.
"This will represent a huge step change in surgery. Surgeons can now start to see and understand the potential for adult stem cells and tissue engineering to radically improve their ability to treat patients with serious diseases," said Professor Martin Birchall at the University of Bristol, who helped grow the cells for the transplant.
Her surgeon, Professor Paolo Macchiarini of the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Spain, said: "We are terribly excited by these results. She is enjoying a normal life, which for us clinicians is the most beautiful gift."
Five months have passed since the surgery. Ms Castillo is healthy and there is minimal chance of a rejection of the organ.
With the first successful transplant completed, her medical team of scientists believes these tissue transplants can be used regularly with success in the future.