Study using human fetal tissue transplants suggests potential for spinal c...( A preliminary report of fetal spinal co...)

A preliminary report of fetal spinal cord tissue transplantation in two patients suggests that the procedure is both feasible and safe in humans, setting the stage for future research seeking better treatments for spinal cord injuries. The results, part of a four-year study, are included in two papers in the September issue of the Journal of Neurotrauma.

The clinical study was based on a long history of laboratory research showing that transplants of embryonic nerve tissue in laboratory animals could achieve partial anatomical and functional repair following spinal cord injury (SCI). To determine whether this strategy could be successfully translated to humans, a pilot safety and feasibility study was initiated in 1997 in a group of eight patients with progressive posttraumatic syringomyelia.

The study was conducted by a team of neuroscientists and clinical investigators from the University of Florida's College of Medicine, College of Health Professionals, and Evelyn F. & William L. McKnight Brain Institute, and the Malcom Randall Veterans Administration Medical Center, all in Gainesville. One of the team members, Dr. Richard G. Fessler, moved to Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago in July 2000, and is professor of neurological surgery. He is also director of the Institute for Spine Care at the Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch (CINN). Another author, Dr. Edward D. Wirth, III, will join the faculty at Rush as assistant professor, neurological surgery, this month.

Syringomyelia, a painful and troublesome complication of SCI characterized by the formation of long cysts in the spinal cord, leads to further tissue damage and neurological problems. The reports present findings for the first two patients in the study, men aged 44 and 51. For 18 months following transplantation surgery, both patients were stable neurologically, and magnetic resonance imaging showed evidence suggesting solid tissue at the graft sit
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Contact: John Pontarelli
jpontare@rush.edu
312-942-5949
Rush University Medical Center
10-Sep-2001

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