• Jesús Vaquero, Rasha Hassan, Cecilia Fernández, Gregorio Rodríguez-Boto, and Mercedes Zurita.
• Neurosurgery Service and Neurological Cell Therapy Unit, Department of Surgery, Hospital Puerta de Hierro-Majadahonda, and Autonomous University, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: jvaqueroc@telefonica.net.
• World Neurosurg. 2017 Nov 1; 107: 1047.e5-1047.e8.

BackgroundCell transplantation with autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) seems to be a therapeutic promise for patients with established spinal cord injury, achieving improvement in their quality of life, but there is no experience with the application of this type of cell therapy in patients suffering posttraumatic syringomyelia.ObjectiveTo study the possible utility of cell therapy with autologous MSCs in posttraumatic syringomyelia.MethodsA 40-year-old man with complete paraplegia since 1991 as a consequence of a Th4 vertebral fracture showed a great posttraumatic syringomyelia that extended up to C2 vertebral level, without signs of recent worsening. Autologous MSCs (150 × 106) were injected into the syrinx, without drainage or aspiration.ResultsOne year after cell therapy, syrinx was reduced without collapse of cervical spinal cord. During the course of follow-up, clear clinical improvement was observed, mainly in sphincter dysfunction.ConclusionsInjection of MSCs in the syrinx of posttraumatic syringomyelia is safe and is associated with clinical and neuroimaging improvement. The possibility of cell therapy as a new approach to posttraumatic syringomyelia, or even for idiopathic syringomyelia, is an open door that requires further study.Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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