Stem Cell Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury: A Review of Recent Clinical Trials
Emmanouil I Damianakis, Ioannis S. Benetos, Dimitrios Stergios Evangelopoulos, Aikaterini Kotroni, John Vlamis, Spyridon G. Pneumaticos
Abstract
Spinal cord injury (SCI) remains an incurable, life-changing neurological condition, causing permanent loss of motor and sensory function in millions of people worldwide and affecting them in every aspect of their personal and social life. In the last two decades, after its success in various fields of medicine, stem cell therapy has been investigated in the research field as a potential treatment for SCI. This review focuses on the pathophysiology of SCI, the characteristics of the different stem cell therapies used for its treatment, and the results of these therapies in recently published clinical trials.