Evaluation of an MRI-Based Protocol for Cell Implantation in Four Patients with Huntington's Disease

• Published in: Cell transplantation Vol. 12; no. 7; pp. 697 - 704
• Main Authors: Watts, C., Donovan, T., Gillard, J. H., Antoun, N. M., Burnstein, R., Menon, D. K., Carpenter, T. A., Fryer, T., Thomas, D. G. T., Pickard, J. D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.01.2003; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Brain - surgery; Brain Tissue Transplantation - methods; Cell Transplantation - methods; Fetal Tissue Transplantation - methods; Humans; Huntington Disease - surgery; Huntington Disease - therapy; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Neostriatum - cytology; Neostriatum - embryology; Huntington's disease; Human cell transplant; MRI
• ISSN: 0963-6897; 1555-3892
• DOI: 10.3727/000000003108747316

The purpose of this study was to evaluate our surgical protocol for the preparation and delivery of suspensions of fetal tissue into the diseased human brain. We implanted suspensions of human fetal striatal anlage into the right caudate and putamen of four patients with Huntington's disease. Postoperative 3 tesla MR imaging confirmed accurate graft placement. Variability in graft survival was noted and the MR signal changes over 6 months revealed persistent hyperintense signal on T2-weighted images. Our results are consistent with those described by other groups and indicate that our surgical protocol is safe, accurate, and reproducible.