Stem Cell Research Redux

Have they repeated the success?

Stem cell treatment allows paralyzed Brazilian to walk and talk again
AFP: 11/19/2004
RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 19 (AFP) - A Brazilian woman who suffered a brain hemorrhage that left her paralyzed on one side and unable to speak has regained her ability to walk and talk after undergoing a stem cell transplant, hospital officials said Friday.

Doctors injected the stem cells into the brain of Maria da Graca Pomeceno, 54, five days after a brain hemorrhage left her a hemiplegic.

The new therapy, being tested for the first time in Brazil, appears to show that stem cells could help patients recover from vascular problems, said Hans Fernando Dohmann, director of Rio's Pro-Cardiaco Hospital, where the experimental treatment was carried out.

Dohmann warned that a trial involving just one person does not automatically mean that the treatment will work for other patients, but he added: "I would say that we have entered a new era in treating this condition."

"We are still at a stage where we are focusing on the safety of the procedure and trying to avoid potential side effects. The next phase will be to test the treatment's effectiveness," Dohmann told AFP.

The experimental treatment used by Rio's Pro-Cardiaco Hospital and the Federal University of Rio will be tested on 14 other patients.


11/19/2004 17:09 GMT - AFP

New Treatment for Urinary Incontinence Reported

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Urinary incontinence in women can be corrected by transplanting the patient's own muscle-derived stem cells into the urethra to strengthen it, scientists said on Monday.

The outpatient procedure takes only 15 to 20 minutes and many patients have no leakage within 24 hours, said the report from the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria.

"We believe we have developed a long-lasting and effective treatment that is especially promising because it is generated from the patient's own body," said Ferdinand Frauscher, associate professor of radiology at the school.

"Urinary incontinence is a major problem for women, and for an increasing number of men," he added in a report released at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

He said the stem cells are removed from a patient's arm, cultured in a lab for six weeks and then injected into the wall of the urethra and into the sphincter muscle, restoring muscle mass and contractility.

About 15 million people around the world, primarily women, suffer from stress incontinence in which urine leakage occurs when an individual exercises, coughs, sneezes, laughs or lifts heavy objects, the report said.

The procedure was successfully done on 20 women aged 36 to 84, the report said.

"These are very intelligent cells," Frauscher said. "Not only do they stay where they are injected, but also they quickly form new muscle tissue and when the muscle mass reaches the appropriate size, the cell growth ceases automatically."

He said a key to the procedure is the use of three-dimensional ultrasound which allows doctors to see exactly where the cells must be placed to make the correction needed.

He added that the cost of the stem cell procedure was comparable to two popular treatments for incontinence -- the long term purchase of adult diapers or collagen injections, which may not be effective for more than a year.