Collagen blood vessels
Surgeons implanted an artificial vein in a patient for the first time
ABC Magazine based on the materials of Duke University Hospital: Surgeons at Duke University Hospital Implant Bioengineered VeinOn June 5 of this year, the first operation in the United States was performed, during which surgeons implanted a vein grown in a laboratory using a new technology.
The patient was a 62-year-old resident of Danville, who is in the terminal stage of chronic kidney disease and constantly in need of hemodialysis. The operation took 2 hours.
Surgeons are often forced to create anastomoses between the arteries and veins of patients undergoing hemodialysis to speed up blood flow during medical procedures. But the existing methods of vein implantation have their drawbacks. Synthetic veins are quickly clogged with blood clots, animal veins cause a strong immune response, and the use of the patient's own veins involves a multi-stage surgical operation with a high risk of infection and complications.
More recently, researchers and doctors from Duke University Hospital have proposed a fundamentally new technique for creating veins for implantation. This technology has already received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Phase 1 clinical trials. It will take place with the participation of 20 patients who need constant dialysis. The first operation has already been successfully performed by surgeons at Duke University Hospital.
The unique technology for "growing" vessels involves the creation of a tubular frame made of biocompatible materials, on which the patient's own cells are placed. The cells grow and divide, covering the frame and forming a long tube. After that, the artificial vessel is placed in a special solution that removes any components from the vein that could cause an immune reaction in the patient. As a result, a collagen tube remains, which can be stored for years in anticipation of surgery. During preclinical tests, such an artificial vein proved to be much better than existing synthetic and animal analogues.
If the clinical trial is successful, this technology will be able to help not only patients on hemodialysis, of which there are more than 350 thousand in the United States. It can also lay the foundation for a number of bioengineered vessel implantation operations. They can be used, for example, for coronary bypass surgery (400 thousand Americans need it every year) or to replace clogged vessels of the lower extremities. The researchers also hope that someday this technique will help to create in laboratories full-fledged organs for implantation – liver, kidney or eye, which are not able to cause a rejection reaction in the patient.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru10.06.2013