The Salem Manipal Hospital has successfully performed Stem Cell Therapy on a 29-year-old man who had sustained severe injury in the upper cervical cord in a road accident two years ago. The man had developed weakness in all the four limbs, loss of sensation and affected the functioning of the bladder.

This is the second time the hospital is performing stem cell therapy to patients with serious disease. The hospital performed the first stem cell therapy in the case of upper cervical cord (C3-C4) in August 2008.

The therapy was carried out to the patient by the hospital's senior neuro surgeon and stem cell therapist Dr K Eliyas Basha, supported by other doctors. Dr Eliyas told Pharmabiz that an MRI scan showed damage and contusion of upper cervical cord at C3 - C5. The surgery, in three stages, took less than half an hour. The bone marrow aspiration was done at the hip bone. This was sent to stem cell laboratory for stem cell identification and cultivation, which took nearly six weeks, he further explained.

More than 100 million stem cells, which have the potential of transforming into neural cells, were injected at C3-C4 segment which is considered to be a critical part of the cervical cord. It was decided to inject the cells directly at the injured site, C3 - C4 segment of the upper cervical cord, by an open surgical procedure on spine.

Dr Eliyas said the patient has started gaining power in the upper limbs and mild power in lower limbs with recovery of sensation in all four limbs. The patient also regained the bladder function and is able to pass urine without the help of a urinary catheter.

"We have been screening and interacting with stem cell centres around the world to know further details regarding stem cell therapy directly at the C3- C4 cervical cord injury. The whole procedure was thoroughly studied and scrutinized by various committees of Manipal health systems," he said.