First stem cell transplantation outside capital completed

A team of surgeons has successfully transplanted ‘autologous hemolytic stem cells’ in a liver cirrhosis patient in a private hospital in Sylhet, reports news agency UNB.

The breakthrough, a first for stem cell therapy outside the capital city Dhaka, occurred on Thursday.

A team of liver specialists led by Mamun Al Mahtab, better known as Professor Swapnil, former Chairman of the Department of Hepatology and Head of Interventional Hepatology Division, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, completed the whole process.

Later, an exchange meeting was held with journalists at a restaurant in Sylhet where Professor Swapnil presented the keynote address.

Stem cell therapy is an advanced aspect of modern medical science with tremendous potential to revolutionise many treatments. It is being used in different ways in different countries of the world.

In Bangladesh, it has been shown that stem cell therapy improves liver function in most patients with cirrhosis of the liver and they stay well for a long time. In many cases, patents no longer need a liver transplant.

Though stem cell therapy is not yet an alternative to liver cirrhosis, it is certainly a promising treatment for those who are unable to have a liver transplant.