Title: A clinical trial report of autologous bone marrow stem cell transplantation in patients with spinal cord injury

Biography:

Konstantine Chutkerashvili is a neurosurgeon at Innova Medical Center, Head of scientific direction at Georgian Young Neurosurgeons Association and Director Anatomical research and skills are the Center at Tbilisi State Medical University.

Abstract

Spinal cord injury is a severe and a very common neurological condition. Stem cell transplantation has emerged as a viable cell therapy option with great potential for restoring neurological function lost following spinal cord injury. A total of 18 patients, with complete motor deficits and paraplegia caused by thoracic and lumbar spine trauma without muscle atrophy or psychiatric problems, were included into this study. The patients have undergone the treatment at the Innova Medical Clinic, Georgia. All patients have completed and signed informed consent prior to autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell transplantation. The bone marrow was aspirated from the anterior iliac crest under local anesthesia and the mononuclear fraction was isolated by density gradient method. At least 750 million mononuclear-enriched cells, suspended in 2 mL of saline, were infused intrathecally. Analysis of subsequent treatment results indicated significant improvements in sensory, motor and autonomic nerve function as assessed by the American Spinal Injury Association's impairment scale. However, despite achieving the positive preliminary results, for the successful application of the bone marrow stem cells in the clinical practice, it is necessary to perform more detailed examinations to evaluate the long-term outcomes of bone marrow stem cells in the patients with spinal cord injury.