干细胞修复脊髓试验带给病人希望

以修复脊髓损伤为目标的试验展示出希望。它在受损区域使用干细胞，希望恢复功能和运动。对于一个病人来说，这就是希...





以修复脊髓损伤为目标的试验展示出希望。它在受损区域使用干细胞，希望恢复功能和运动。对于一个病人来说，这就是希望。

在2013年4月9日，James Mason发生了一个意外。“我们无以为计无能无力改变那一夜，”他的继父Bob Gambuti说。

在争论中，Bob Gambuti竭力阻止酒后的Mason进入汽车。“我们扭打在一起，”Gambuti说。“他拖住我的腿，我们都倒在地上——他的颈椎断了。”



James Mason和他的继父Bob Gambuti在事故发生前。

“我记得正好碰撞地面，”Mason说。“我记得整条路全程在担架上。”

Gambuti说，整个过程中最可怕的部分是第一天，他们抬Mason下床。“没有什么可以动，”Gambuti说。“正好是他的头部遭受重创。在那一时刻我真的想去跳楼。”

Mason四肢瘫痪，只有双臂有一丁点的活动能力。医生说，他将再也不能走路了。

身为退休警察的Gambuti，成了他的全职照顾者，在纽约西奈山医院发现一个试验性疗法。

Mason接受了精细的颈部手术，尝试通过注射干细胞修复脊髓受损的部分。



James Mason。

“我真的非常兴奋，准备手术完成后就去康复中心。”Mason说。

由Arthur Jenkins博士花4小时进行了手术。研究人员随后跟踪Mason和其他五名患者——都有严重的脊髓损伤。

手术三个月后Mason说，他已经注意到他的变化。“我的手腕已经变得更强。我能握住很多东西。”他说。



事故发生后的James Mason。

而半年后，他也注意到变化。“我的状况变得更好了，”他说。“我能感觉到我的脚。通过我的腿能感觉到传递给脚的压力。他们已经注意到了，我的臀部也能有一点点活动。”

如今，赞助公司试验报告6例患者中的4个运动强度和功能都有所改善。Jenkins博士不属于这家公司，继续监督Mason。

“实际上改变了他神经系统的恢复和功能，”Jenkins博士说。“实际功能的改进来自于注射的干细胞”。

Mason没有因事故责怪他的继父，事实上他充满感激。

“如果我已经上了车，我可能会杀了别人，某人的母亲，某人的父亲，某人的孩子。如果我能幸存下来，我就不能活在自己的生活中，”他说。

Mason相信，干细胞加速了他的恢复，否则很难知道将会发生什么。还需要更多的研究来确定干细胞是否确实能修复脊髓损伤。

Experimental procedure aimed at repairing spinal cord shows promise

An experimental procedure aimed at repairing spinal cord injuries is showing promise. It uses stem cells in the damaged areas in hopes of restoring function and movement.

And for one patient, it is promising.

On April 9, 2013, James Mason was an accident waiting to happen."There was nothing we could have done to change that night," said Bob Gambuti.

During an argument, James Mason's stepfather Bob Gambuti, tried to stop him from getting into a car after Mason had been drinking.

"He grabbed onto me, I grabbed onto him," said Gambuti. "He pulled my leg out and we fell back and his neck broke."

"I remember just hitting the ground," said Mason. "I remember the whole way with the stretcher."

Gambuti said the most devastating part of the whole process was the first day that they lifted Mason out of a bed.

"And nothing moved," Gambuti said. "Just his head. That really hit hard. At that point I really wanted to go jump off a bridge."

Mason was left a quadriplegic, with just the slightest ability to move his arms. Doctors said he would never walk again.

Gambuti, a retired cop, became his full time caregiver and found an experimental trial at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital.

CBS News spoke with Mason just before he underwent delicate neck surgery to try and repair the demaged part of his spinal cord by injecting stem cells.

"I'm just super excited, ready to just get it done and go back to rehab and start proving the doctors wrong even more," said Mason.

The surgery performed by Dr. Arthur Jenkins, took four hours. Researchers have followed Mason and five other patients -- all with the most severe spinal cord injuries.

CBS News met up with Mason again three months after the surgery.

Mason said he was already noticing changes.

"My wrist has gotten a lot stronger. I'm able to grasp around a lot other things," he said.

And after six months, he was noticing changes then, too.

"I think it's almost doubled with how much I've gotten better," he said. "And got sensation back into my feet. I can feel pressure onto 'em, throughout my legs. And they've noticed that I have a little bit of movement into my hips now."

Today, the company sponsoring the trial reported four of the six patients experienced improvement in both motor strength and function. Dr. Jenkins, who is not affiliated with the company, has continued to monitor Mason.

"My two cents is it worked, that this actually changed his neurological recovery and function," Dr. Jenkins said. "That his actual functional improvement is from the stem cells that were injected."

What's that like for Mason?

"I mean, I just have to keep pushing forward," he said.

Mason does not blame his stepfather for the accident, in fact, he is grateful.

"If I had gotten into my car, I could have killed someone else, someone's mother, someone's father, someone's child. If I would have survived through that, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself," he said.

"It's odd and it's tough and people say, 'I'm sorry.' Don't be sorry. I still have him here," Gambuti said.

Mason believes the stem cells accelerated his recovery. But it's hard to know what would have happened without them. More research will be needed to try to establish whether they actually repair damage to the spinal cord.

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