Stem cell therapy can improve infants hearing

Scientists have successfully used umbilical cord blood injections containing fetal stem cells for treating hearing loss in infants with severe inner ear damage.

A team of researchers at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center transplanted the babies’ own restored cord blood in order to treat their sensorineural hearing loss.

The condition which affects 6 in every 1,000 children during or after birth develops due to inner ear damage caused by conditions such as oxygen deprivation, infection, head injury, acoustic trauma or drug induced side effects.

Many of the patients may lose their hearing completely forever while some get some levels of improvement after cochlear implant and using hearing aid.

After successfully using the new therapy on a group of lab mice, researchers led by Samer Fakhri tested the groundbreaking method on some children including Finn McGrath, a two-year-old baby whose brain was damaged by oxygen deprivation during a complicated delivery.

The baby was suffering organ failure, breathing problems, and cerebral palsy which left him unable to roll, crawl or walk, hold his head up, talk or eat.

The child received his own cord blood in three separate injections, each further improving his hearing. The baby’s cord blood was obtained before birth in an umbilical cord blood bank.

In September 2010, when Finn was one year old, he received the third infusion, which significantly restored his hearing.

Researchers say the transplanted stem cells had well seated in the child’s defected cochlea and repaired the damaged auditory cells.

The current first level study is focusing on the safety of the revolutionary method. Scientists hope to test the efficacy of their novel method by using it for children six weeks to 18 months old who have sustained post-birth sensorineural hearing loss.

Source: presstv.com