Wisconsin quadriplegic regains use of upper body after novel clinical trial
A severe spinal cord injury as a result of a car accident left Lucas Lindner, 22, of Eden, Wis., almost completely paralyzed, unable to do little more than wiggle his wrists and shrug his shoulders. Dr. Shekar Kurpad, chair and professor in the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) neurosurgery department and director of the Froedtert and MCW Spinal Cord Injury Center, however, had reason to offer hope: Lindner was a candidate for a new clinical trial, based on 15 years of Kurpad’s research into cellular transplantation for spinal cord injury.
Linder became one of the first patients of the SCiStar trial, administered by Asterias Biotherapeutics, a leading biotechnology company in the emerging field of regenerative medicine. The trial tested three sequential escalating doses of stem cells injected directly into the spinal cord in patients who have essentially lost all movement below their injury site.
A little more than one year later, Lindner threw out the first pitch at a Brewers game. Today, about two years later, he continues to gain more upper-body strength every day.
