The collaborative effort resulted in a great breakthrough. It was pioneered by British scientists and performed by Polish surgeons.
Fantastic.
From the Daily Mail.
A fireman paralyzed from the waist down after his spinal cord was completely severed has regained the ability to walk thanks to British scientists.
Darek Fidyka, 40, is believed to be the first person in the world to recover from such chronic injuries, in an achievement hailed as more impressive than putting a man on the Moon.
Mr Fidyka’s spinal cord was sliced in half during a stabbing four years ago, leaving him paralyzed below the waist.
Amazingly, he has now been able to resume an independent life – walking with a frame and even driving a car – thanks to a revolutionary technique pioneered at University College London.
Mr Fidyka, from Bulgaria, suffered damage similar to that of actor Christopher Reeve, whose spine was severed from his skull after he fell off a horse in 1995.
While some victims of partial spinal injury have recovered, a complete break was generally assumed to be irreparable.
However, scientists in Poland used cells from Mr Fidyka’s nose to re-grow nerve cells which were then inserted into his spine, fixing the broken link.
It is the first time the procedure has been shown to work on a human. Professor Geoffrey Raisman, whose team at UCL first discovered the technique, said: ‘We believe that this procedure is the breakthrough which, as it is further developed, will result in a historic change in the currently hopeless outlook for people disabled by spinal cord injury.’
He described Mr Fidyka’s recovery as ‘more impressive than man walking on the Moon’. The research, funded by the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation and UK Stem Cell Foundation, will be featured in a Panorama program on BBC 1 tonight.
Scientists from University College London (UCL) pioneered the breakthrough procedure.
It was designed to enable Darek Fidyka to walk again, after his spinal cord was sliced in half during a stabbing four years ago, leaving him paralyzed below the waist.
The procedure involved transplanting olfactory ensheathing cells – or OECs – from the nose to the spinal cord.
OECs assist the repair of damaged nerves in the nose that transmit smell messages to the brain.
The cells were transplanted into the spinal cord, using 100 micro injections across the site of the injury.
A small piece of nerve tissue, which was taken from the ankle, was grafted onto the ‘gap’ in the spinal cord to act as a scaffold for the spinal neurons to extend, as guided by the OECs.
This enabled the ends of severed nerve fibers to grow and join together – something that was previously thought to be impossible.
Three months after the operation, Mr Fidyka began to gain muscle in his left leg and regained sensations in it, such as hot and cold, and pins and needles.
A year later, he is able to walk again, with the aid of parallel bars.
……Dr Pawel Tabakow, of the Wroclaw Medical University in Poland, said: ‘We estimated that without this treatment, our patient’s recovery chances were less than 1 per cent.
‘However, we observed a gradual recovery of both sensory and motor function that began four months after the surgery.’
The procedure involved transplanting olfactory ensheathing cells – or OECs – from the nose to the spinal cord.
OECs assist the repair of damaged nerves in the nose that transmit smell messages to the brain.
Two weeks later, the cells were transplanted into the spinal cord, using 100 micro injections across the site of the injury.
A small piece of nerve tissue, which was taken from the ankle, was grafted onto the spinal cord to act as a scaffold for the spinal neurons to extend, as guided by the OECs.
This enabled the ends of severed nerve fibers to grow and join together across the ‘gap’ – something that was previously thought to be impossible.
Three months after the operation, Mr Fidyka began to gain muscle in his left leg and regain sensation in parts of his lower body. He felt hot and cold as well as pins and needles in the limb.
A year after surgery – and large amounts of physiotherapy at the rehabilitation center in Wroclaw – he could walk with the aid of parallel bars and using a walker with short callipers supporting his ankles.
Professor Raisman said: ‘The observed wisdom is that the central nervous system cannot regenerate damaged connections. I’ve never believed that.’
He stressed that what had been achieved was a leap forward beyond ‘plasticity’ – the re-wiring of the remaining connections.
He compared that method to motorists finding other routes around a closed section of motorway, adding: ‘What we’re doing is repairing the motorway.’
Unfortunately, this comes too late for many people who subsequently died from medical conditions brought on by their paralysis. Kudos to the Brits and Poles for their great work. This should become commonplace.