Source: Karolinska University Hospital
Date: July 7, 2011
Summary:
For the first time in history, a patient has been given a new trachea made from a synthetic scaffold seeded with his own stem cells. The operation was performed on June 9th 2011 at Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge, Stockholm, by Professor Paolo Macchiarini, of Karolinska University Hospital and Karolinska Institutet, and colleagues.
The patient, a 36-year old man, is well on the way to full recovery from the recent operation in Sweden and is now being discharged from the hospital. Researchers produced a specifically designed bioreactor used to seed the scaffold with the patient's own stem cells. The cells were grown on the scaffold inside the bioreactor for two days before transplantation to the patient. Because the cells used to regenerate the trachea were the patient's own, there has been no rejection of the transplant and the patient is not taking immunosuppressive drugs.
The successful transplantation of tissue engineered synthetic organs, referred to as regenerative medicine, could open new and very promising therapeutic possibilities for the thousands of patients who suffer from tracheal cancer or other conditions that destroy, block or constrict the airway.
