Christopher Reeve's dream of walking again after his spinal column was severed may be about to become a reality for others. British papers tomorrow are reporting the success of a procedure devised in London in co-operation with Poland.
From The Times
A paralysed man with a completely severed spinal cord has learnt to walk again in a “historic” British-led breakthrough that raises the prospect of treatment for a condition previously believed to be permanent. The patient, a firefighter, was left with no movement or feeling from the waist down after being stabbed four years ago. In a revolutionary procedure, cells from his nose were transplanted into the damaged part of his spine. He recovered the ability to walk with a frame, learnt to drive again and has been hunting with friends. The patient, Darek Fidyka, 38, from Poland, said that the experience was like being reborn. “It’s an incredible feeling, difficult to describe,” he said. “You’re at a certain moment in your life when you think it will never happen again and yet... it’s possible.” His remarkable recovery suggests that the transplanted cells formed a “bridge” across the damaged portion of his spinal cord, reopening communication lines between his lower body and brain
More details from
Reuters
[Professor Geoffrey] Raisman, a UCL [University College Hospital, London] spinal injury specialist, worked with surgeons at Wroclaw University Hospital in Poland to remove one of Fidyka's olfactory bulbs, which give people their sense of smell, and transplant his olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) and olfactory nerve fibroblasts (ONFs) into the damaged area.
They used a nerve bridge constructed between the two stumps of the damage spinal column, they said in the study.
OECs are a type of cell found in both the peripheral and central nervous system. Together with ONFs, they make bundles of nerve fibers that run from the nasal mucosa to the olfactory bulb, where the sense of smell is located.
Raisman and the team plan more experimental procedures on a further three to five patients over the next three to five years to improve the procedure. So this is not an immediate fix for everyone with spinal cord injury. Recovery time has been in the order of 18 months to show what is a significant improvement for Darek Fidyka. Funding was provided by a charity kickstarted with £1 million from a businessman whose son was injured in a swimming accident in Australia.
Note: the story is front page lead in the Times and Independent print versions for Tuesday morning. The Times web site has the fuller story but behind a paywall. The Independent's web site has it on its home page but the links are currently broken.