First trachea transplant without immunosuppression
Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 13:49
in Health & Medicine
Tissue engineering has made possible this doubly innovative operation - the first trachea transplant and the first tissue transplant to be performed without the need for immunosuppression. Professor Paolo Macchiarini, Head of the thoracic surgery department of Hospital Clínic has led the basic research and the international team formed by the universities of Bristol, Padua and Milan, who contributed to this success. The transplanted tissue is a hybrid from a donor that was repopulated with stem and epithelial cells from the recipient. Five months later, Claudia Castillo, who required the operation to save a lung following tuberculosis, is in perfect health.