Department of stem cell transplantation, General Hospital of Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, Beijing 100039, China.
J Transl Med. 2012 May 18;10:100. doi: 10.1186/1479-5876-10-100.
Cerebral palsy is currently one of the major diseases that cause severe paralysis of the nervous system in children; approximately 9-30% of cerebral palsy patients are also visually impaired, for which no effective treatment is available. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) have very strong self-renewal, proliferation, and pluripotent differentiation potentials. Therefore, autologous BMSC transplantation has become a novel method for treating cerebral palsy.
An 11-year-old boy had a clear history of dystocia and asphyxia after birth; at the age of 6 months, the family members observed that his gaze roamed and noted that he displayed a lack of attention. A brain MRI examination at the age of 7 years showed that the child had cerebral palsy with visual impairment (i.e., posterior visual pathway injury). The patient was hospitalized for 20 days and was given four infusions of intravenous autologous BMSCs. Before transplantation and 1, 6, and 12 months after transplantation, a visual evoked potential test, an electrocardiogram, routine blood tests, and liver and kidney function tests were performed.
The patient did not have any adverse reactions during hospitalization or postoperative follow-up. After discharge, the patient could walk more smoothly than he could before transplantation; furthermore, his vision significantly improved 6 months after transplantation, which was also supported by the electrophysiological examinations.
The clinical application of BMSCs is effective for improving vision in a patient with cerebral palsy combined with visual impairment.
脑瘫是目前导致儿童神经系统严重瘫痪的主要疾病之一；大约 9-30%的脑瘫患者同时存在视力障碍，目前尚无有效的治疗方法。骨髓间充质干细胞（BMSCs）具有很强的自我更新、增殖和多能分化潜能。因此，自体 BMSC 移植已成为治疗脑瘫的一种新方法。
一名 11 岁男孩出生时有明确的难产和窒息史；在 6 个月大时，家人观察到他的目光游移，并且注意到他注意力不集中。7 岁时进行脑部 MRI 检查，发现患儿患有脑瘫合并视力障碍（即后视觉通路损伤）。患儿住院 20 天，接受了 4 次静脉注射自体 BMSCs 移植。在移植前和移植后 1、6 和 12 个月，进行了视觉诱发电位测试、心电图、常规血液检查以及肝肾功能检查。
患儿在住院期间或术后随访期间无任何不良反应。出院后，患儿较移植前行走更加平稳；此外，他的视力在移植后 6 个月显著改善，电生理检查也支持这一点。
BMSCs 的临床应用对改善脑瘫合并视力障碍患者的视力有效。
