Hirschsprung’s Disease
| Location: | Department of Paediatric Surgery, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and the Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Liverpool both at Liverpool |
|---|---|
| Amount: | £122,840 |
| Status: | Research completed |
| Start Date: | 1st March 2005 |
| Finish Date: | 31st May 2007 |
| Grantholder: | Mr S E Kenny BSc, ChB, MD, FRCS(Paed) and Dr D H Edgar PhD |
| Research worker: | Mrs M G Connell |
Babies born with Hirschsprung’s disease suffer from life-threatening bowel obstruction caused by lack of nerve cells in the rectum. In the UK, a baby is born with Hirschsprung’s disease every 72 hours.
Currently babies undergo surgery to relieve the obstruction and remove the diseased segment of bowel. However the long term outcome may be poor, with 10% requiring a lifetime colostomy and up to 7 out of 10 children having significant incontinence.
The aim of this research is to isolate and grow stem cells taken from infants to see if they have the ability to form nerves.
The researchers can then assess if such cells may be transplanted back into the affected bowel of babies with Hirschsprung’s disease to provide them with a source of nerve cells.
Simon Kenny at Alder Hey hospital in Liverpool. The hospital has a dedicated Hirschsprung’s disease clinic
