StemCell Therapy

Editor's Choice Main Category: Transplants / Organ Donations Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;Cardiovascular / Cardiology Article Date: 15 Jun 2012 - 11:00 PDT

Current ratings for: 'Tissue Engineered Vein Transplant On Child Patient A Success '

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According to the results featured Online First in The Lancet, this pioneering technique may provide a new alternative for patients with unhealthy veins who require dialysis or heart bypass surgery without having to encounter the problems of synthetic grafts, which are prone to clots and blockages, or needing lifelong immunosuppressive treatment.

Martin Birchall and George Hamilton from the UK's University College London explain in an associated comment:

The hepatic portal vein is a large vein, through which all venous blood from the gastrointestinal system is carried to the inferior surface of the liver. A blockage of the hepatic portal vein can lead to serious complications, including lethal variceal bleeding, enlarged spleen, developmental retardation, and even death. Until now, clinicians only managed to achieve mixed success in attempting to restore portal blood flow by using umbilical veins and artificial grafts to build a bridge around the blockage (meso Rex bypass).

The researchers from the University of Gothenburg surgically removed a 9cm segment of iliac (groin) vein from a living human donor. After removing all living cells, they were left with a tube that consisting of just the protein scaffolding, which they injected with stem cells they took from the girl's own bone marrow. The graft was reimplanted in a meso Rex bypass procedure two weeks after seeding.

The girl developed no post-operative complications and the blood flow was immediately restored to normal function. A year after the operation the girl's height had increased from 137 to 143 cm and her weight increased from 30 to 35kg.

At the one-year follow up, the team observed a decreased portal blood flow, which required a second stem cell-based graft. The patient is doing well since the second graft and is capable of walking increasing long distances of 2 to 3 km in addition to doing light gymnastics.

Read more:
Tissue Engineered Vein Transplant On Child Patient A Success Â

This entry was posted on June 15, 2012 at 10:20 pm and is filed under Stem Cell Complications. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |