Product Stem Cell Therapy. For more than 40 years, Lesley Kelly of Glasgow, Scotland, lived with
third-degree burns that stretched over 60 percent of her body. Kelly was 2 years old when she fell into a bathtub filled with hot water
that scorched most of the right side of her body.
She lost full range
of motion around many of her joints."When you have bad scarring, the buildup is very thick and has no
elasticity," said Kelly, 45, whose right elbow was most affected by the
buildup of scar tissue. "The problem with thermal burn scarring [is
that] it's hard to get the range of motion."
Kelly underwent numerous reparative surgeries through the years, but the
scar tissue continued to grow back. The procedures did not lessen the
look of her scars.
In 2011, Kelly underwent a new, experimental procedure that used stem
cells from her own fat tissue to repair the buildup around her right
elbow.
Surgeons cleaned the scar buildup around the elbow and used liposuction
to pull fat from off Kelly's waist. They separated the fat cells from
the stem and regenerative cells, which were then injected into the wound
on Kelly's arm. The procedure took less than two hours.
Within months, Kelly was able to regain 40 degrees of motion that she had lost more than 40 years ago.
"If this technology was available earlier in my life, my scars would not have been as bad," said Kelly.
There are an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 burn cases each year in the U.S., according to the American Burn Association.
The stem cell therapy, approved in the U.K. to treat soft tissue wounds, is now gaining traction in the U.S.
Cytori Therapeutics, Inc., the biotechnology company that created the
therapy, has been awarded a $4.7 million U.S. government contract to
further develop the stem-cell treatment for thermal or radioactive
burns.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/experimental-stem-cell-therapy-burn-victims/story?id=17350731#.Ud5QFW1hCI0
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