title: Treatment of one case of cerebral palsy combined with posterior visual pathway injury using autologous bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cerebral palsy is currently one of the major diseases that cause severe paralysis of the nervous system in children; approximately 9-30% of cerebral palsy patients are also visually impaired, for which no effective treatment is available. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) have very strong self-renewal, proliferation, and pluripotent differentiation potentials. Therefore, autologous BMSC transplantation has become a novel method for treating cerebral palsy.
  
  
  METHODS
  An 11-year-old boy had a clear history of dystocia and asphyxia after birth; at the age of 6 months, the family members observed that his gaze roamed and noted that he displayed a lack of attention. A brain MRI examination at the age of 7 years showed that the child had cerebral palsy with visual impairment (i.e., posterior visual pathway injury). The patient was hospitalized for 20 days and was given four infusions of intravenous autologous BMSCs. Before transplantation and 1, 6, and 12 months after transplantation, a visual evoked potential test, an electrocardiogram, routine blood tests, and liver and kidney function tests were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patient did not have any adverse reactions during hospitalization or postoperative follow-up. After discharge, the patient could walk more smoothly than he could before transplantation; furthermore, his vision significantly improved 6 months after transplantation, which was also supported by the electrophysiological examinations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The clinical application of BMSCs is effective for improving vision in a patient with cerebral palsy combined with visual impairment.
authors.affiliation: Department of stem cell transplantation, General Hospital of Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, Beijing 100039, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Aixue
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Fangfang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Guanghui
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Hongbin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yihua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: An
mesh_terms: D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000293:injuries*