← Claudia Castillo, 30 years old, who lives in Barcelona, has become the first person to be given a whole organ created from her own stem cells in laboratories across Europe.
Ms Castillo had suffered a tuberculosis infection that ravaged her airways. Disease had caused the airway from trachea to her left lung to collapse –the left primary bronchus- and the best solution was to remove the left lung.
← During the operation.
Researchers and surgeons from Britain, Italy and Spain worked together to grow tissue from Ms Castillo’s own bone marrow stem cells from hip also cells from lung and nose to create cartilage and other specialized cells for make the new bronchus by growing 6 millions cells in the University of Bristol.
← During the operation.
They believe that one day the approach will be used to create engineered replacements for other damaged organs, such as the bowel or bladder and even heart. In five years, they hope to begin clinical trials in which laboratory make voice boxes are implant into patients with cancer of the larynx.
The other patients needing powerful drugs to avoid rejection operation on Ms Castillo was on 12 June but four months on Ms Castillo’s doctors have seen no sign of her immune system rejecting the transplant, even though she has had no immunosuppressive drugs and the probability that this woman will have rejection is almost zero.
↑ The transplanted trachea ↓
Details of the transplant, performed by Paolo Macchiarini:
First a section of trachea was taken from a donor –dead woman- and treated to remove all cellular material that could cause an immune reaction. Stem cells were then were taken from Ms Castillo’s bone marrow.
Stem cells can develop into different kinds
of tissue, given the right chemical instructions, enabling researchers to cultivate cartilage and epithelial cells to cover the 7cm graft.
It was then “seeded” into the processed donor trachea with the new cells using a process developed in Italy.
Finally, cover the trachea in cartilage and lined with epithelial cells, was cut to shape and fitted.
← Ms Castillo said: “I was scared at the beginning because I was the first patient, but I trusted the doctors. I am now enjoying life and am very happy that my illness has been cured.
To watch videoes about the surgery:
1)The Guardian:
2)Reuters:
3)Youtube:
Pictures & text were quoted & edited from: Elaph, Reuters, The Guardian.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment