In a medical first, stem cells have been used at a Cincinnati Chidren?s Hospital in the US to regrow the cheekbones in a 14 year-old boy. The stem cells came from his own body. The technique, which took over two years to develop, uses a combination of fat-derived stem cells, donated bone scaffolds, growth protein and bone-coating tissue.
While stem cells are traditionally used to patch up the heart or strengthen arteries, this procedure was used to treat Treacher Collins Syndrome, a genetic defect that resulted in the young patient missing some of his facial bones.
The implications of this procedure are very exciting for the medical community, which potentially has a new way to treat broken bones. Get more details after the jump to Scientific American.
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