Patients with previous traumatic brain injury experienced significant improvement in motor functioning after implantation of mesenchymal stromal/stem cells, according to interim data from the STEMTRA phase 2 trial published in Neurology.
Kawabori and colleagues conducted a 1-year, multicenter, double-blind, randomized, surgical sham-controlled trial of 61 patients (mean age, 34.4 years; men, 70.5%; median time since injury, 68.9 months) who were at least 12 months past the initial TBI. Patients had Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended scores of 3 to 6 and focal cerebral injuries that were visible on MRI that correlated with chronic motor deficits. The mean Fugl-Meyer Motor Scale (FMMS) score at baseline was 52.2 in patients who received the SB623 implant and 52.3 in controls.