Cerebral Palsy - Autologous Stem Cell Therapy Results (n=30)
Introduction
Cerebral Palsy is a non-progressive disorder caused by damage to the motor control centers of the developing brain1. The incidence of Cerebral Palsy varies between 2.12 to 2.45 per 1000 live births1,2. In more than 75%, the brain damage happened during pregnancy. At the moment there is no cure for Cerebral Palsy3. Treatment with Autologous Stem Cells seems to be a promising therapy to improve the condition of the Cerebral Palsy patient4.
Methods
30 patients with Cerebral Palsy were treated with Autologous stem cells by the XCell-Center. Injection of the Stem Cells was performed by Lumbar Puncture. 200 ml of Bone Marrow was extracted out of the Iliaca crest and was concentrated for transplantation using gradient centrifugation (mean number of given cells was 6.000.000). After treatment the patients were evaluated using a post treatment survey. The results of 30 treated patients are presented in this poster.
Results
The mean age of the treated patients was 9.8 years and the age of 50% of the treated patients was below 6.5 years. The oldest patient was 44 years old. Gender distribution was nearly equal. Nearly 70% of the treated patients mentioned improvements (figure above).
The type of improvements included a decrease of spasticity, a better coordination, an increase in motor function, an increase in posture stability and an improvement in mental functions resulting in improved communication. Sitting alone, standing alone and even walking without help were reported. Improvement of articulation and the ability to speak better was observed in 40% of the responders. A major decrease or even absence of epileptic seizures was reported in nearly 20% of the responders.
All the improvements started within 8 weeks after the application of autologous Stem Cells. The results show no apparent correlation between the outcome and the number of transplanted stem cells.
Conclusions
In summary, Autologous Stem Cells injected in the spinal cavity has shown to have a strong positive effect on the health status of nearly 70% of the treated patients. Stem cell transplantation seems to be a safe and potentially powerful therapy for this group of patients. Scientific proof will be obtained by a planned double blind randomized control clinical trial.
References
Download these results as a PDF document .
- Pharoah PO. Epidemiology of cerebral palsy: a review. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Jul 1981;74(7):516-520.
- Westbom L, Hagglund G, Nordmark E. Cerebral palsy in a total population of 4-11 year olds in southern Sweden. Prevalence and distribution according to different CP classification systems. BMC pediatrics. 2007;7:41.
- O'Shea TM. Diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cerebral palsy. Clinical obstetrics and gynecology. Dec 2008;51(4):816-828.
- Goldman SA, Schanz S, Windrem MS. Stem cell-based strategies for treating pediatric disorders of myelin. Human molecular genetics. Apr 15 2008;17(R1):R76-83.