Injecting Stem Cells Directly Into Brain Can Help Stroke Patients Walk: Study

Adult stem cells can help in stroke recovery even after a long time after it hits, according to research.

"We don't want to oversell this," said Gary Steinberg of the Stanford University School of Medicine and lead author of the study. "This isn't the first stem cell trial for stroke, and we're in the early phase, with only 18 patients," he added. "But after injecting stem cells directly into the brain of chronic stroke patients, we were blown away."

Patients undergoing severe motor deficits for half a year or more, who did not have positive options for treatment before the stroke, were examined.

"After the injections we saw improvement in all 18 patients, as a group, within a month," Steinberg added. "Within days, some were lifting their arms over their head. Lifting their legs off their bed. Walking, when they hadn't in months or years. The results were very exciting."

Almost 7 million people survive chronic strokes in the U.S. every year. Many of them lose motor function and then are faced with the fear that it might never return.

"We're used to 90 percent or more of stroke recovery taking place in the first six months," Steinberg said. "So the thinking has been that we really can't restore function in chronic stroke patients because their circuits are dead."

Patients who suffered severe but not excessive stroke-induced impairments, at an average age of 61 years, were examined by the Stanford team. Most of the patients underwent the stroke for at least a year before the tests were conducted.

Giving them just a small amount of anesthesia, doctors drilled small holes in their skulls and injected some modified stem cells into various regions of the brain, near the site of the stroke.

Following that, all the patients recovered motor control in the first month, even as younger patients faced the best results. However, no major blood abnormalities or side effects were identified.

"The results do sound amazing," said Ralph Sacco of the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine who was not involved in the study. "But keeping in mind that everyone has long been looking for a miracle cure for stroke. It's really premature to draw conclusions. This is one very small study that was really set up to establish safety. More work will be needed."

A study on a larger sample of 156 chronic stroke patients is being planned.

The findings abstract were published in the June 2 issue of the journal Stroke.