Description:
This article published on TIME Magazine (online edition) talks about a recent breakthrough in science: stem cells. Hannah Warren, a two year old at the Children's Hospital of Illinois, was born without a trachea and placed in intensive care with a tube connecting her mouth and lungs. But after almost a month with her trachea transplant, Hannah is breathing normally and responding to doctors and nurses, signs that she is doing fine. This surgery was the first trachea transplant in the US and in the youngest patient. The procedure was approved by the FDA only because Hannah's condition of being born without a trachea is 99% fatal, as is an experimental option.The trachea was made of the stem cells from Hannah's bone marrow and plastic fibers to shape it into a tube. The stem cells integrate themselves into their new environment by picking up signals from surrounding cells and tissue. In the future, Dr. Macchiarini is looking to further research regenerative medicine and increase the scope of stem cells and making the transplants safer for the patient.
Relevance to Class:
This article is relevant to our class curriculum because it directly relates to the human body systems we have been studying, specifically the respiratory system. The trachea is the organ that connects the mouth to the bronchi/lungs and brings oxygen and carbon to and from the environment. It has an extremely important function, which is why the 1 in 50,000 people born with a windpipe defect or without one have a very slim chance of survival.
URL: http://healthland.time.com/2013/04/30/young-girl-undergoes-successful-windpipe-transplant-from-her-stem-cells/
Author: Alexandra Sifferlin
Date of Publication: April 30, 2013
Have there been other trachea stem cell transplants outside the U.S.?
ReplyDeleteWhat defects does this tube have compared to a normal trachea?
ReplyDeleteWoww your blog. Very informative and useful.
ReplyDeletePediatric Adult Resectoscopes and Sheaths