Windpipe transplanted from patient's own stem cell

A patient has been given a new trachea made from a synthetic scaffold seeded with his own stem cells in a Stockholm's hospital, the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet said on Thursday. The operation was performed on June 9th at Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge and the patient, a 36-year old man, has been well on the way to recovery and would be discharged from the hospital on Friday, the university said in a statement. The patient had been suffering from late stage tracheal cancer with the tumor had reached approximately 6cm in length and was extending to the main bronchus. Since no suitable donor windpipe was available, the transplantation of the synthetic tissue engineered trachea was performed as the last possible option for the patient. The successful transplantation of tissue engineered synthetic organs, referred to as regenerative medicine, could open promising therapeutic possibilities for the thousands of patients who suffer from similar conditions. Transplantations of tissue engineered windpipes with synthetic scaffolds in combination with the patient's own stem cells as a standard procedure means that patients would not have to wait for a suitable donor organ. This would be a substantial benefit for patients since they could benefit from earlier surgery and have a greater chance of cure, according to the statement.