Team in China grows ears and attaches them to human patients
February 2, 2018 by Bob Yirka, Medical Xpress report
Post-implantation follow-ups. The pre-operated microtic ear showing a peanut-like structure. At two and a half years post-implantation, the reconstructed ear shows typical auricular features with helix, anti-helix, and cavum conchae, largely symmetrical to the healthy side. Post-implantation assessment at different time points shows the signs of gradual shape recovery, where only blunt ear structures are observed at the 1st and the 6th months post-implantation. Relatively clear ear features with helix, anti-helix, and cavum conchae structures gradually appeared at 9, 12, 24, and 30 months post-implantation. MRI examination reveals an obvious sandwich structure of the ear framework with cartilage (low signal, yellow arrows) surrounding the PCL core region (red arrows). PCL core region signals are difficult to distinguish from other tissue signals at early stage (Post-OP 1 m; a result of tissue edema) and present a gradual decreased trend with increased implantation time (Post-OP 6–24 m). Pre-OP: pre-operation; Post-OP: post-operation. Credit: EBioMedicine (2018). DOI:
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-02-team-china-ears-human-patients.html
