Procedure was performed in St. Katherine’s Specialty Hospital in Zabok in front of over 70 doctors and specialists
First ever application of autolog stem cells harvested from fatty tissue in Croatia was performed on Saturday, 28 November 2015 at the St. Catherine’s Specialty Hospital in Zabok. More than 70 orthopedic surgeons, trauma specialists, neurosurgeons, anesthesiologists, plastic and reconstructive surgery specialists, dentists and other doctors were present during the operation and while the procedure was taking place in the operating room, other doctors were following it via live stream and asking questions.
Before the surgery, president of the Executive board of St. Katherine’s hospital prof. Dragan Primorac explained the principles of implementing mesenchymal stem cells and pericytes as possible biological material that has great potential in treating illnesses of the muscle-marrow tissue, skin and other organic systems. Dr. Carlo Tremolada, plastic surgeon from Milano and a student of prof, Arnold Kaplan, who is considered to be the father of mesenchymal stem cells, presented his latest results of applications of autolog stems cells retrieved from fatty tissue in treating various orthopedic and other conditions. Prof. Kaplan and his wife were among the first patients to receive this treatment.
According to dr. Tremolada’s extensive research which was conducted on 865 patients, Improvement of clinical conditions was registered in 90% of cases which completely changes the way these conditions were treated until now. The “Lipogems system” which was applied in St. Katherine’s hospital is currently approved in USA, EU, Australia, Israel and China and it has all the necessary certificates and approvals (FDA, CE, cFDA, AFDA, IFDA).
Photos: St. Katherine’s Specialty Hospital
Along with all standard diagnostics procedures, the patient that was treated with this new method at St. Katherine’s hospital underwent an MRI to assess the state of the knee joint, cartilage thickness and levels of all key indicators (type II collagen and proteoglycans) that depict the function of cartilage cells were recorded. Same tests will be conducted several months after the stem cells were applied.
The procedure was performed by a medical team lead by dr. Carlo Tremolada and doc. dr. Damir Hudetz.
