Sonata... I'm sorry I missed this thread. I've been running too hard lately...
This is a very interesting technology. I saw a presentation on it at NASS in Austin last October.
http://www.globalpatientnetwork.com/.../index.shtml#6
There were MANY more than 5 patients... the also had 43 month follow-up for 13 additional patients and more that were less than 43 months out.
Keep in mind that they are actually slicing out the entire unit... endplate, disc, endplate. So to do the implantation, they are not just doing a discectomy, they are removing the endplates of the vertebral bodies.
I can't imagine that this will be widely used because of the requirement for healthy endplates and discs... it almost requires a young donor as DDD is so prevalent in people beyond 50. It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out. Another issue will be the risk of failure... if the graft doesn't take, how serious are the consequences since you've destroyed the entire system???
Mark
PS... you are very welcome, I'm glad you are finding the site helpful.