Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation by Lumbar Puncture: A safety Follow-up in 870 Patients
February 4, 2010
The XCell-Center has completed a safety follow-up of 870 patients who were treated by lumbar puncture for various indications such as spinal cord injury, Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy, and more. Patients were surveyed 10 days after treatment and again after 3 months.
Overall, we found that the transplantation of stem cells via lumbar puncture appears to as safe as common lumbar puncture procedures used for other purposes such as diagnostics. Therefore, we conclude that lumbar puncture is a safe and non-invasive procedure by which to inject stem cells into a patient's intrathecal space (spinal fluid).
The most common side-effects experienced by patients were headache and backache; occurring in approximately 1 out of 5 patients. Patient headaches are a relative side effect due to the lumbar puncture procedure itself and are unrelated to the actual stem cell therapy. Leg pain and nausea were reported by roughly 10% of those treated. 98% of patients reported that their side-effects subsided in less than 10 days.
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View Abstract (pdf) View Complete Results (pdf)
