title: Allogenic umbilical cord blood therapy combined with erythropoietin for patients with severe traumatic brain injury: three case reports.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report the safety and efficacy of a novel therapeutic trial with umbilical cord blood (UCB) and concomitant recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO), which was tried for three cases of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in rehabilitation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case series.
  
  
  METHODS
  University hospital setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three patients with TBI over 6-months post-injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Intravascular administration of allogenic UCB and injection of rhEPO, and rehabilitation therapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For safety, adverse events, symptom, vital signs, blood chemistry, and hematologic study; for efficacy, modified Barthel index, motor assessment scale, Fugl-Meyer assessment of upper extremity, motor-free visual perception test, mini-mental screening examination, and brain images.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no serious adverse events and the participants showed improvements during the follow-up periods in various aspects. Patient 1 demonstrated improvements in motor and cognitive function. Diffusion tensor images showed increased nerve fibers. Patient 2 displayed improvements in activities of daily living. In Patient 3, neurogenic fever vanished and Brain PET revealed increased glucose metabolism at basal ganglia, thalami, and cerebellum.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The allogenic UCB therapy combined with rhEPO in the present study was safe and suggested potential therapeutic efficacy for patients with TBI. Controlled clinical trials are now needed to document efficiacy and safety in a larger patient sample.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kyunghoon
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: Junyoung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Ji Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Myung Seo
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Su Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Sang Heum
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Minyoung
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000502:physiology* / Q000637:transplantation*; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D004921:Erythropoietin