Abstract

The adult stem cell therapy is nowadays established in the treatment of blood cancer and heart attack. New is the application of adult stem cells for neurological diseases and in brain and spinal cord injury. The aim of the study was to achieve first results in cases of spinal cord injury for the evaluation of the efficiency of the adult stem cell therapy. Method: We used bone marrow material from the iliac crest for the isolation and separation of the adult stem cells (CD34+). The re-injection of the stem cells we perform via lumbar puncture. We treated 100 patients with incomplete and complete spinal cord injury and evaluated 40 patients with a minimal follow up time of 3 months. Result: In 57.5% of the examined patients we saw an improvement of the neurological deficit. A deterioration of the neurological symptoms was not found and we observed not a specific complication regarding the adult stem cells. Conclusion: The first clinical results of the adult stem cell treatment are encouraging in cases of spinal cord injury. In our study the treatment was effective and safe. Prospective randomized studies are necessary for a scientific evaluation of this kind of stem cell treatment.