Scientists
hail operations on teenagers with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome,
which affects vaginal development
theguardian.com,
Peter Walker, Friday 11 April 2014
Scientists have successfully implanted vaginas grown in laboratories into four teenage girls who have a congenital condition which meant their own did not develop properly.
A scientist at the Wake Forest medical centre, demonstrates the process to engineer vaginal organ tissue. Photograph: Reuters |
Scientists have successfully implanted vaginas grown in laboratories into four teenage girls who have a congenital condition which meant their own did not develop properly.
The
artificial vaginas, engineered from the patient's own cells and individually
made to fit them, allowed the women to later have full sex lives. As well as
being a breakthrough in vaginal reconstruction, the US and Mexican scientists
responsible for the procedures said it potentially meant other tissues or
organs could be laboratory grown and implanted.
"This
pilot study is the first to demonstrate that vaginal organs can be constructed
in the lab and used successfully in humans," said lead researcher Dr
Anthony Atala from Wake Forest Baptist medical centre in Winston-Salem, North
Carolina.
"This
may represent a new option for patients who require vaginal reconstructive
surgeries. In addition, this study is one more example of how regenerative
medicine strategies can be applied to a variety of tissues and organs."
The
patients, who were between 13 and 18, were all born with
Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome (pdf), a rare genetic condition
in which the vagina and uterus are underdeveloped or absent.
Using vulva
tissue from each patients, the team grew tissue around vagina-shaped
biodegradeable scaffolds before implanting the fully formed vagina.
Follow-up
tests over a number of years – the first of the implants took place eight years
ago, although findings have only just been reported – found the engineered
vaginas worked as hoped, with the women reporting they were able to have sex
normally, without pain. None had yet become pregnant, but that is believed to
be possible. The research is published in the medical journal the Lancet.
One of the
patients, speaking anonymously, was quoted as saying the procedure had been
hugely important to her life: "Truly I feel very fortunate because I have
a normal life, completely normal."
Atala said:
"Yearly tissue biopsy samples show that the reconstructed tissue is histologically
and functionally similar to normal vaginal tissue. This technique is a viable
option for vaginal reconstruction and has several advantages over current
reconstructive methods because only a small biopsy of tissue is required, and
using vaginal cells may reduce complications that arise from using non-vaginal
tissue, such as infection and graft shrinkage."
Separately,
he told the BBC: "Really, for the first time we've created a whole organ
that was never there to start with. It was a challenge." Seeing the
difference the breakthrough made to the women's lives was very rewarding, he
added.
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