Tissue Eng
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Transplantation of bone marrow cells into the injured spinal cord has been found to improve neurologic functions in experimental animal studies. However, it is unclear whether bone marrow cells can similarly improve the neurologic functions of complete spinal cord injury (SCI) in human patients. To address this issue, we evaluated the therapeutic effects of autologous bone marrow cell transplantation (BMT) in conjunction with the administration of granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in six complete SCI patients. ⋯ Syrinx formation was not definitely found. BMT and GM-CSF administration represent a safe protocol to efficiently manage SCI patients, especially those with acute complete injury. To demonstrate the full therapeutic value of this protocol, long-term and more comprehensive case-control clinical studies are required.