The child suffered from portal vein thrombosis, which causes a reduced or interrupted blood flow to the liver.

For preparation of the artificial blood vessel, the scientists used a piece of iliac from a deceased donor and removed all the cells except the collagen scaffold and some proteins. Using that framework they let smooth muscle cells grow, building the vessel wall as well as endothelial cells for the inner layer of the artificial blood vessel. The cells had been cultivated previously in the laboratory from the patient´s stem cells of her bone mark.

For more information (in German):
http://www.nzz.ch/