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Grow Your Own Heart Valves

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday September 4, 2007 @02:24AM from the congen-circulatory-sphincters dept.

jcr writes "Medical researchers in Britain have succeeded in growing a heart valve from adult stem cells taken from bone marrow. The research is being reported in the journal of the Royal Society today. Growing a heart value from your own cells means that tissue rejection isn't an issue."

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Re:Tissue Rejection Not an Issue by ambulatorybird · 2007-09-04 02:50 · Score: 5, Informative

I've had a valve replacement myself, and I believe there are two problems: (1) pig valve: those are basically like leather, and they wear out after 5 years, requiring replacement even in adults. And open heart surgery isn't normally something one wants to have on a regular basis. (2) artificial valve: blood clots form on them, requiring the patient to take anticoagulant drugs for the rest of his life.