Category Archives: Spinal Cord Injury Treatment

Stem Cells For Spinal Cord Injury successfully results Stem Cells For Spinal Cord Injury successfully results, Performed by NeuroSurgeon Dr. Luis Jorge Quintero, patient was treated with Stem Cells Therapy and ge... By: enjades … Continue reading →

Asiana Airlines Maggie Fox, Senior Writer NBC News 22 hours ago Many of those hurt in the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 on Saturday have spinal injuries, according to a doctor who treated them and theyll likely need long-term treatment. Patients have fractured spines, stretched ligaments and head injuries, said Dr. Geoff Manley, vice chairman of neurological surgery at the University of California San Francisco. The pattern of injuries is surprisingly similar, he told NBC News, and paints a picture of people badly bounced around as the plane hit short of the runway and tumbled. There was some blunt force injury from seatbelts and people striking their heads against the seat and armrests, Manley, who treated many of the patients at San Francisco General Hospital, said in a telephone interview. We have a lot of spine trauma. Peoples spinal cords were fractured and hyper-extended, meaning theyll need to be kept stable so the spinal cord itself isnt damaged any more. There are some people very, very badly hurt. San Francisco General treated 53 patients, 34 of whom have been discharged. Hospital officials said six of the patients there were in critical condition. "These injuries include large abdominal injuries, spine … Continue reading →

Progress of ASCENT-ASCI Phase 2 Trial of SUN13837 Discussed at American Spinal Injury Association Symposium PARAMUS, N.J. , July 8, 2013 /CNW/ - Asubio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the expansion of enrollment for its ASCENT-ASCI (Asubio Spinal Cord Early Neuro-recovery Treatment for Acute Spinal Cord Injury) trial to include AIS A, B and C injury to the cervical spine. ASCENT-ASCI is a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating SUN13837, an investigational medication being developed to improve neurological function in patients with newly diagnosed acute spinal cord injury. Asubio recently discussed the expanded inclusion criteria and progress of the study at a peer-attended symposium at the American Spinal Injury Association ( ASIA ) 40th Anniversary annual meeting in Chicago , Illinois . The company is currently working with 45 acute trauma centers throughout the United States and Canada and plans to increase that number to 55. Trauma centers must first sign up to participate in the clinical trial and then brief attending trauma physicians and nurses on how to rapidly identify eligible spinal cord injury patients when they first arrive at their facility. In addition to the 45 acute trauma centers, there are also 13 stand-alone rehabilitation centers participating in the study. … Continue reading →

WEDNESDAY, July 3 (HealthDay News) -- For people who suffer a spinal cord injury, irreversible tissue loss occurs within 40 days, which is much sooner than previously thought, researchers say. The investigators used new MRI techniques to assess 13 people with spinal cord injuries. The patients were checked every three months for a year after their injury. After 12 months, the diameter of the spinal cord was 7 percent smaller. Lesser declines were also evident in the corticospinal tract (which is critical for motor control), and nerve cells in the brain's sensorimotor cortex (which integrates the senses and the motor system), according to the researchers at the University of Zurich in Switzerland and University College London in the United Kingdom. "Patients with a greater tissue loss above the injury site recovered less effectively than those with less changes," researcher Patrick Freund, of the University of Zurich, said in a university news release. The study was published July 2 in The Lancet Neurology. Until now, it had been believed that it took years before tissue changes in the spinal cord and brain above the injury site could be detected. This study shows that tissue loss occurs much earlier and that newer … Continue reading →

Obama administration delays key piece of health-reform law Obama administration delays key piece of health-reform law In a surprise announcement, the Obama administration said Tuesday evening that it was delaying implementation of a key part of its landmark health-reform law. In a surprise announcement, the Obama administration said Tuesday evening that it was delaying implementation of a key part of its landmark health-reform law. Two HIV-positive patients show no trace of virus after receiving chemotherapy and stem-cell transplants as treatment for lymphoma, according to new research. Two HIV-positive patients show no trace of virus after receiving chemotherapy and stem-cell transplants as treatment for lymphoma, according to new research. For people who suffer a spinal cord injury, irreversible tissue loss occurs within 40 days, which is much sooner than previously thought, researchers say. For people who suffer a spinal cord injury, irreversible tissue loss occurs within 40 days, which is much sooner than previously thought, researchers say. The rate of fatal overdoses of prescription painkillers and other drugs among U.S. women quadrupled between 1999 and 2010, federal officials reported Tuesday. The rate of fatal overdoses of prescription painkillers and other drugs among U.S. women quadrupled between 1999 and 2010, federal officials … Continue reading →

The Lancet Neurology, Early Online Publication, 2 July 2013 Copyright 2013Elsevier LtdAll rights reserved. In patients with chronic spinal cord injury, imaging of the spinal cord and brain above the level of the lesion provides evidence of neural degeneration; however, the spatial and temporal patterns of progression and their relation to clinical outcomes are uncertain. New interventions targeting acute spinal cord injury have entered clinical trials but neuroimaging outcomes as responsive markers of treatment have yet to be established. We aimed to use MRI to assess neuronal degeneration above the level of the lesion after acute spinal cord injury. In our prospective longitudinal study, we enrolled patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injury and healthy controls. We assessed patients clinically and by MRI at baseline, 2 months, 6 months, and 12 months, and controls by MRI at the same timepoints. We assessed atrophy in white matter in the cranial corticospinal tracts and grey matter in sensorimotor cortices by tensor-based analyses of T1-weighted MRI data. We used cross-sectional spinal cord area measurements to assess atrophy at cervical level C2/C3. We used myelin-sensitive magnetisation transfer (MT) and longitudinal relaxation rate (R1) maps to assess microstructural changes associated with myelin. We also assessed … Continue reading →

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (NVIV), a developer of groundbreaking technologies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI) and other neurotrauma conditions, today announced that due to the unpredictability of live television, CEO Frank Reynolds appearance on Fox News Channels Tech Take scheduled for today, Thursday, June 27th will no longer be aired on television at 1:00pm ET. The segment will instead be available on Fox News Channels website at http://www.FoxNews.com later today. About InVivo Therapeutics InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. is utilizing polymers as a platform technology to develop treatments to improve function in individuals paralyzed from traumatic spinal cord injuries. The company was founded in 2005 based on proprietary technology co-invented by Robert S. Langer, ScD. Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Joseph P. Vacanti, MD, who is affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2011, the company earned the prestigious David F. Apple Award from the American Spinal Injury Association for its outstanding contribution to spinal cord injury medicine. The publicly traded company is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. For more details, visit http://www.invivotherapeutics.com. Safe Harbor Statement Certain statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning … Continue reading →

Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic have taken a step forward in the treatment of severe spinal cord injuries. They regrew nerve cells across the site of the injury in paralyzed adult rats and restored the animals' bladder function. The study appears in the June 26 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. This step means scientists might be able to restore other bodily functions after an injury. When the spinal cord is injured, nerves in the brain are disconnected from cells in the cord that control the bladder and the urethra. When the body scars after the injury, it slows the growth of severed nerve fibers and results in the permanent loss of bladder control. Scientists paired a chemical to promote cell growth with a scar-busting enzyme to create a more hospitable environment for the nerves at the injury site. The enzyme chondroitinase and the chemical called fibroblast growth were used in this study. Months after the procedure was performed on rats, they resumed bladder function. Scientists do caution that several challenges must be met before this type of therapy could be tested in people. Original post: Health Headlines: Spinal cord injury breakthrough … Continue reading →

Public release date: 28-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Robert Miranda cogcomm@aol.com Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair Putnam Valley, NY. (June 28 2013) A team of researchers in Poland who treated three of six paraplegics with spinal cord injury using transplanted olfactory ensheathing cells found that the three treated patients showed neurological improvement and no adverse effects while the three control patients who did not receive transplants saw no improvement. The study appears as an early e-publication for the journal Cell Transplantation, and is now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/pre-prints/ct0799tabakow. "Most accepted treatments for spinal cord injury focus on techniques of early neuro-protection aimed at maximum prevention of secondary spinal cord injury and methods to stimulate plasticity in the central nervous system," said study corresponding author Dr. Pawel Tabakow of the Department of Neurosurgery, Wroclaw Medical University in Wroclaw, Poland. "These measures have helped patients with incomplete spinal injury, but results in patients with complete spinal injury remained limited." According to the researchers, among the various kinds of neurotrophic cells being tested for transplantation to treat spinal cord injury, OECs deserve "special attention" because they are unique in their natural ability to stimulate … Continue reading →

Researchers have discovered a way to regenerate nerves in mice that have been damaged by spinal cord injuries, restoring their bladder function, Medical Daily reported. When paralysis occurs, the bladder is one of the organs most affected. Bladder control is maintained through signaling that occurs between the brain and the spinal cord. But after a spinal injury, that messaging is disrupted, often putting patients at a greater risk for urinary tract infections and kidney stones. Previous research has been unsuccessful at achieving any significant nerve regeneration in mice with spinal injuries. However, in the study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, researchers successfully achieved nerve regrowth by adding a combination of a previously inhibited enzyme, chonrdoitinase, and a fibroblast growth factor (FGF) to the site of the injury. After adding a graft to the site, the nerves in the spinal cord grew back by up to 12 millimeters, Medical Daily reported. Though the mice were not able to walk, they did experience a restoration of bladder function. Mice were 40 percent more capable of emptying their bladders completely and were able to willfully control their bladders. The treated mice could also hold nearly three times the volume in their bladders … Continue reading →