Toddler Receives Groundbreaking Windpipe Transplant Made From Her Own Stem Cells
by Raina Jain
Posted on May 3, 2013
Two year-old Hannah Warren was born without a trachea and spent everyday in intensive care, living with a tube as a windpipe replacement. Being born without a trachea is fatal in 99% of patients, but Hannah is now able to mostly breathe on her own.
Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, director of the Advanced Center for Translational Regenerative Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, conducted the groundbreaking surgery. Hannah was the youngest patient to undergo the operation, with only five other patients having undergone the same procedure previously.
The operation was performed at the Children’s Hospital of Illinois and involved the creation of the transplant from Hannah’s own stem cells. The stem cells originated from her bone marrow and were placed over plastic fibers shaped into a trachea-like tube. The mechanism of how the windpipe transplant functions is still unclear, but scientists believe that the stem cells can integrate with existing tissues in response to environmental signals.
Only about 1 in 50,000 children worldwide are born with a windpipe defect or without one entirely. For these few children, the manipulation of stem cells for tissue regeneration is especially crucial to their survival. Macchiarini himself was in awe of Hannah’s incredible progress, telling The Times, “Hannah’s transplant has completely changed my thinking about regenerative medicine.” The use of a completely bioengineered matrix is an overall safer option for patients, sparing them issues of foreign body reactions. Macchiarini hopes to conduct a clinical trial in the future to further validate his bioengineering technique.
