Blood vessels grown from donated skin cells were successfully implanted in the arms of three patients in Poland, according to new research.
The blood vessels were implanted to create access points for kidney dialysis.
Although the oldest implantation occurred eight months ago, none of the three patients show any signs of rejection and none of them require medication to suppress immune function, Todd N. McAllister, co-founder and chief executive officer of Cytograft Tissue Engineering Inc. of Novato, Calif., told WebMD.
Prior to this procedure, researchers used cells taken from individual patients to grow tubes of tissue that could be grafted onto natural blood vessels. That process, however, was long and costly -- with each graft costing between $10,000 and $20,000.
Now, new vessels can be made in advance and refrigerated until doctors are ready to use them. This procedure is far less costly -- averaging around $6,000, according to McAllister.
"This is tremendously exciting," Dr. Robert A. Harrington, director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, N.C., said during a news briefing. "If the work as has been demonstrated thus far continues in such a positive way, this is big news."
According to WebMD, the researchers do acknowledge that the findings are preliminary, but the researchers also note that patients who have undergone the procedure have had fewer complications than they had experienced with previous shunts [access points].
