In a pioneering new treatment, doctors created a tailor-made new windpipe for a woman out of donor tissue and the woman's own stem cells, and say the new, transplanted trachea has been accepted by the woman's immune system as a natural part of her body without the use of powerful immune-suppressing drugs. Martin Birchall, one of the surgeons,
said the transplant showed “the very real potential for adult stem cells and tissue engineering to radically improve their ability to treat patients with serious diseases. We believe this success has proved that we are on the verge of a new age in surgical care” [The New York Times].
Similar treatments could soon be tried on transplants of other hollow organs, like the bowel, bladder, and reproductive tract, he said. The 30-year-old patient, Claudia Castillo, had failing airways and severe shortness of breath due to a bout with tuberculosis.
By March of ...
