Grant Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, recently completed the nation’s first published study of a new procedure that may give hope to millions of patients facing lower-limb amputations from peripheral artery disease (PAD). PAD is a painful circulatory problem in the legs that affects 10 million Americans. If left untreated, it can lead to serious complications such as stroke, amputation, and death.
The December 2009 issue of The Journal of Vascular Surgery, published the results of a clinical trial at Grant documenting the outcomes of nine patients who received a groundbreaking transplant of adult stem cells. The study was designed to see if the stem cells would cause new blood vessels to grow, bypassing severely narrowed or clogged arteries.
Six of the patients avoided major amputation through restored blood flow that eliminated their constant pain and healed their ulcerations.
“We were pleasantly surprised by our results,” said the lead author, vascular and endovascular surgeon Randall W. Franz, MD, medical director of the Grant Vascular and Vein Center. “This is cutting-edge technology that could benefit millions of Americans with PAD…. A total of 16 patients have now received the procedure with 13 patients avoiding major amputation.”
Franz co-authored the study with vascular surgeon Kaushal Shah, MD, and chief perfusionist Thomas Hankins, CCP.
“This technique sheds new light on stem-cell treatment and has the potential to become the gold-standard therapy for PAD,” Hankins said.
‘Nothing Short of a Miracle’
During the procedure, surgeons extracted specialized stem cells from the patient’s hip, separated them by centrifuge spinning and injected them into the arteries and muscles at the site of the blockage.
“We actually grew new collateral blood vessels that restored circulation,” Franz said.
According to Grant, Helen Thomas, 80, of Hastings, Michigan, was among the six subjects spared amputation in the study. She traveled to Grant to undergo the procedure this summer. The outcome “has been nothing short of a miracle,” said Thomas, who had a non-healing leg wound and previously lost a toe due to poor circulation. “I feel like a normal person again. I’m able to go to the grocery store. Without this procedure, I would have been in a wheelchair.”
