Bioengineered cartilage for plastic surgery
Swiss researchers from the University of Basel, working under the guidance of Professor Ivan Martin, have successfully tested a surgical approach to nose reconstruction using cartilage grown in laboratory conditions.
Bioengineered cartilage grown in laboratory conditions for transplantation (photo by the authors).
The main cause of serious nasal defects is surgical removal of non-pigmented malignant neoplasms of the skin, most often appearing on the wings of the nose due to intense exposure to these areas of sunlight. For complete excision of the tumor, surgeons often have to remove part of the cartilage. Usually, fragments of the nasal septum, ear or rib are used for functional reconstruction of the nose in such cases. However, this procedure is very invasive, painful and can lead to complications in the area of graft isolation.
The authors have developed an alternative approach, for which a biopsy of a small fragment of cartilage tissue (6 mm) of the nasal septum carried out under local anesthesia is sufficient. The chondrocytes isolated from the biopsy sample are propagated in culture for two weeks, after which they are applied to the collagen membrane and cultured for another two weeks. The size of the resulting bioengineered cartilage (25 X 25 X 2 mm) is 40 times larger than the size of the original biopsy. It is given the necessary shape and implanted into the defect zone.
In total, 5 patients aged 76-88 years with serious nasal defects participated in the study. A year after the operation, all of them were satisfied with both the quality of their breathing and the appearance of their nose. None of them noted the occurrence of undesirable side effects.
According to Professor Martin, the use of bioengineered cartilage provides results comparable to the results of the traditional approach to the restoration of nostril defects. The developed method provides new opportunities in the use of bioengineered cartilage for more complex operations for the reconstruction of facial defects, such as reconstruction of the entire nose, eyelid or ear.
Currently, a clinical study is being conducted in which bioengineered cartilages made in a similar way are used to repair knee joint defects. However, despite the optimistic prospects, the introduction of this approach into clinical practice is a matter of the future, since, according to Martin, for this it is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the approach on a large cohort of patients, as well as to adjust the production process of transplant material in such a way as to guarantee the economic feasibility of the procedure.
Article by Ilario Fulco et al. Engineered autologous cartage tissue for nasal reconstruction after tumour resection: an observational first-in-human trial published in The Lancet.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of the University of Basel:
Scientists Grow Cartilage to Reconstruct Nose.
14.04.2014