CHICAGO — Early results from a first-in-human trial some 20 years in the making suggest that neural stem cell transplantation is safe and improves motor function starting at 1 month after treatment in patients with chronic
The 18 patients were aged 18-75 years and were 6 months to 5 years out from an ischemic subcortical middle cerebral stroke. They had a modified Rankin score of 3-4 and stable motor deficit, and they had been through rehabilitation. Patients with a stroke lesion 100 cc on MRI were excluded. Surprisingly, there was no correlation between clinical response and dose, age, sex, time of stroke to transplant, or stroke volume, Steinberg said.
"You don't need the cells to survive long term. They just need to release their factors stimulate this system. They jazz up the circuits, and now the circuits function again. It may be very important to combine it with physical therapy, as thein most patients, nausea, fatigue, transient worsened speech in three patients, and asymptomatic chronic subdural hygroma in two patients.