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A British boy has undergone a groundbreaking operation involving the transplantation of a windpipe which is being regenerated inside his body using his own stem cells.
Scientists described the operation, carried out on Monday at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, as a ‘milestone moment’ in the development of techniques that could allow people to rebuild damaged or transplanted organs inside their bodies.
The replacement trachea, the bony tube that connects the nose, mouth and lungs, was stripped of the donor’s cells to leave a scaffold which was then laced with the child’s stem cells. The boy, aged 10, then received the transplant hours later. The stem cells are now reconstructing the airway and ensuring it is not rejected by his immune system.
The operation is the first to use stem cells with the scaffold inside the body. It is also the first entire windpipe transplant to be carried out on a child and is also the first to involve the entire length of the trachea.
The doctors who carried out the procedure said the technique reduced greatly the risk of rejection of the new trachea, as the child’s stem cells will not generate any immune response. They said the child, who is not being identified, is recovering well and is able to speak… Continue reading
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