Interesting that researchers are now able to grow blood vessels from a vein from the back of the hand. The growth enhancers sound like they might hold promise for rosacea suffers should they help healthy facial vessels grow. I haven’t seen any research for facial vessels but who knows maybe in the future.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Published: November 16, 2005
DALLAS, Nov. 15 (AP) – Two kidney dialysis patients from Argentina have received the world’s first blood vessels grown in a laboratory dish from snippets of their own skin, a technique that doctors hope will someday offer a new source of arteries and veins for diabetics and other patients.
Like many patients in dialysis, the two Argentines, a 56-year-old woman and a 61-year-old man, were faced with the prospect of running out of healthy blood vessels. To grow new ones, doctors took a small piece of skin and a vein from the back of the hand, and nurtured them in a laboratory dish with growth enhancers to help produce substances like collagen and elastin, which give tissues their shape and texture.
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The process produced two types of tissue: one that forms the tough structure or backbone of the vessel and one that lines it and helps it to function.
The feel of the new tissue “was very similar to the other vessels” that were present from birth, said Dr. Sergio Garrido, the surgeon who implanted it in the two patients.
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In the future, doctors hope the homegrown vessels will prevent amputations in diabetics who suffer from poor circulation, and give heart-bypass patients new veins or arteries to detour around blocked vessels. The method may also hold promise for children born with defective blood vessels.
