Department of Neurology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Laboratory for Neural Stem Cells and Functional Neurogenetics, Division of Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology, Department of Neurology, UConn School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.
Ann Neurol. 2020 Oct;88(4):661-668. doi: 10.1002/ana.25842. Epub 2020 Jul 29.
"Stem cell tourism," the practice of offering unproven cellular preparations to patients as approved therapy, is rising in neurology. Currently, the experiences of patients and reported complications from these procedures are unknown in the United States. We evaluate academic neurologists' experiences with stem cell tourism and assess perceived competency on discussing this topic with patients. We found a lack of neurologist preparedness to discuss stem cell therapies with patients and an alarming list of unreported complications from these unregulated procedures. We also identified an urgent need for neurologist education and the creation of a national registry for reporting patient complications resulting from experimental stem cell interventions. ANN NEUROL 2020;88:661-668.
“干细胞旅游”，即将未经证实的细胞制剂作为已批准的疗法提供给患者的做法，在神经病学领域日益兴起。目前，在美国，这些治疗方法的患者体验和报告的并发症尚不清楚。我们评估了学术型神经病学家在干细胞旅游方面的经验，并评估了他们与患者讨论这一话题的能力。我们发现，神经科医生在与患者讨论干细胞疗法方面准备不足，而且这些不受监管的程序存在大量未经报告的并发症。我们还发现，神经科医生迫切需要接受教育，并建立一个全国性的登记处，报告因实验性干细胞干预而导致的患者并发症。
