I was thinking about having an artificial disc put into my neck. But now I hear the Chinese have perfected the human transplant of disc material. Would I be eligible for the transplantation instead of an artificial replacement?

The use of donated human discs is very cutting edge. Only one study has been done so far. It was performed by spine surgeons from Hong Kong and Beijing.

There were only five patients in the study. Although the results were moderately successful, this procedure is not available for everyone just yet. Much more study is needed. But scientists are cautiously optimistic that this type of transplantation is possible.

The patients receiving donor tissue were followed for up to five years. X-rays at the end of that time showed some mild loss of disc space. This suggests there are some degenerative changes occurring in the donated segments.

One patient had a natural neck fusion. The two vertebrae adjacent (next to) the transplanted disc formed a solid union. MRI showed the disc signal was still preserved but there was no movement at that level.

It’s still too early to tell what the long-term effects of transplanted discs may be. Animal studies have been successful enough to conduct trials in humans. There are still many questions about how long the discs will remain alive and if the mechanical stability will last.