(ANSA) - Bologna, October 15 - Doctors at Bologna's Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute said Tuesday that they successfully performed the transplant of a section of a human spine in a world first.
On September 6 the team led by Dr Alessandro Gasbarrini replaced four vertebrae in a 77-year-old patient with bone cancer with a section held in an Emilia-Romagna muscle-bone tissue bank. "He's fine," Gasbarrini said of the patient.
"He has been discharged.
"He was with us for about a month.
"After two weeks of post-operation checks he was transferred to another department for physiotherapy and there he was put back on his feet and in a condition to have a life that is as normal as possible.
"When he was up to it, he went back to be with his loved ones".
Part of human spine transplanted in world 1st
Operation on 77-year-old cancer patient in Bologna