UK doctors to use pig organs to treat babies with rare condition
18 Apr 2017
Doctors in UK have devised a technique that uses modified pig organs to treat babies with birth defects.
The procedure will be carried out next year on about 10 babies with oesophagus astresia, a rare condition where the upper section of the gullet does not connect to the stomach. Initially, babies with the condition find it difficult to swallow, but it could quickly lead to more serious problems, including choking and pneumonia.
The babies will receive transplants from pig organs modified with their own stem cells.
The 'animal scaffolds' used in the procedure will remove all animal cells and would be re-engineered with stem cells from the child to avoid rejection by the patient's body.
Stem cells will be taken from the child's muscle and residual oesophagus just after birth, while tissue engineering is expected to take around eight weeks.
Around 250 babies are born in the UK each year with oesophagus astresia.
Oesophageal atresia can be diagnosed in the foetus at as early as 20 weeks and surgery is often performed within days of birth in order to treat the condition.
The research team at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London hopes to use the procedure in the treatment of adults suffering from oesophageal cancer, a more common and often fatal condition, according to The Times.
Dr Peter Steer, the hospital's chief executive, said, "This new oesophageal transplant procedure has the potential to transform the lives of children with extremely complex health conditions, Daily Mail reported. Our researchers are now working closely with hospitals across London to develop, and make available, this pioneering procedure."
Stem cells can be extracted immediately following birth to 're-engineer' a pig gullet stripped of its animal cells. The stem cells, taken from the baby's muscle and their incomplete gullet, would make the animal tissue suitable for transplant and human cells forming around the animal scaffold, would ensure that the child's body would not reject the foreign organ.
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