First child to receive stem cell trachea transplant doing well after two years
28 Jul 2012
The first child stem cell-supported trachea transplant is functioning well two years on, according to a paper published in The Lancet .
The follow-up of the procedure, carried out in 2010 at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), shows that the new organ has strengthened and does not appear to have induced any signs of rejection.
The 13-year-old boy continues to breathe normally, has grown 11 cm in height and has returned to school. He does not require any anti-rejection therapy.
Ciaran Finn-Lynch underwent the transplant in March 2010 at GOSH, when his own trachea was removed and replaced by a donor windpipe laced with Ciaran's own stem cells so it would not be rejected.
The donated trachea was obtained from a deceased adult in Italy and was stripped of the donor's cells, down to the inert collagen.
Ciaran's bone marrow stem cells were collected at GOSH, isolated at the Royal Free Hospital (RFH) and returned to GOSH the same day, where they were applied to the implanted trachea inside Ciaran's body.
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