Stem cell surgery for windpipe 'could replace transplant'
Pioneering surgery to rebuild an 11-year-old boy's windpipe using his own stem cells has been hailed as a success.
Ciaran Finn-Lynch was born with Long Segment Tracheal Stenosis, which leaves sufferers with a very narrow windpipe. Doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital took stem cells from his bone marrow and injected them into a donor windpipe, before implanting the organ and allowing the stem cells to transform themselves in his own body.
Professor Martin Birchall from University College London told the BBC that the success of this operation could lead to it being used on other organs.
06 Aug 2010