Dalton doctor uses stem cells to save man's foot from flesh-eating virus (with video)

Dalton doctor uses stem cells to save foot from flesh-eating virus

Dalton podiatrist Dr. Spence Misner used stem cell therapy to help regrow tissue on Bobby Rice's foot through a series of treatments every three to four weeks. Rice lost a large amount of skin, muscle, and blood vessels to a flesh-eating virus 18 months ago.

Mesenchymal stem cells, or adult stem cells, are undifferentiated cells found in tissues or organs that can renew themselves and differentiate to yield some or all of the major specialized stem cell types of the tissue or organ.

The primary role of adult stem cells is to maintain and repair the tissue in which they are found.

Scientists believe MSCs hold some of the greatest promise for wound-healing therapies, because they are so accessible and because they can grow into so many different kinds of cell types.

MSCs are already embedded in some FDA-approved wound healing products as a part of a cellular repair matrix.

Source: National Institutes of Health; Stem Cell Network; Osiris Therapeutics Inc.

Bobby Rice had a choice to make: Lose his foot. Or take a risk and maybe lose his foot anyway.

He took the chance.

And that choice placed Rice at the center of a could-it-be-true story featuring a small-town doctor and a big-league medical advancement rarely seen at even the most elite hospitals.

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Dalton doctor uses stem cells to save man's foot from flesh-eating virus (with video)