Ruhr-University Bochum’s (RUB’s) medics in Germany have succeeded in treating cerebral palsy with autologous cord blood. Following a cardiac arrest with severe brain damage, a 2.5-year-old boy had been in a persistent vegetative state – with minimal chances of survival. Just two months after treatment with the cord blood containing stem cells, the symptoms improved significantly; over the following months, the child learned to speak simple sentences and to move. “Our findings, along with those from a Korean study, dispel the long-held doubts about the effectiveness of the new therapy,” says Dr. Arne Jensen of the Campus Clinic Gynecology. Together with his colleague Professor Dr. Eckard Hamelmann of the Department of Pediatrics at the Catholic Hospital Bochum (University Clinic of the RUB), he reports on the case in an open-access article in 2013 issue of the journal “Case Reports in Transplantation.” At the end of November 2008, the child suffered from cardiac arrest with severe brain damage and was subsequently in a persistent vegetative state with his body paralyzed. Up to now, there has been no treatment for the cause of what is known as infantile cerebral palsy. “In their desperate situation, the parents searched the literature for alternative therapies,” Dr. Jensen explains. “They contacted us and asked about the possibilities of using their son’s cord blood, frozen at his birth.” Nine weeks after the brain damage, on 27 January 2009, the doctors administered the prepared blood intravenously. They studied the progress of recovery at 2, 5, 12, 24, 30, and 40 months after the insult. Usually, the chances of survival after such severe brain damage and more than 25 minutes duration of resuscitation are six per cent.Login Or Register To Read Full Story