Stem Cell Treatment For Hip Dysplasia.

[badboyz]

This was posted on an email list I am on. Anyone heard of it?

http://www.wreg.com/global/story.asp?s=8733108

MEMPHIS 7/23/2004) -- What if you could take a dog that's struggling to walk, and within a couple days have him out chasing frisbees again? It might sound impossible but a cutting edge treatment offered in Memphis is making it happen.

Blue, a German Shepard with a disposition that's made her many friends, loved playing catch at Shelby Farms. But one day her owner, Twyla Waters, noticed something strange. Blue went from the life of the party, to a dog who could barley walk.

If you told Waters eight months ago that her best friend would be catching frisbees again, she probably would have thought you were crazy. "I think it had progressed over time. She started slowing down," she says.

Blue's vets diagnosed her with hip dysplasia. The disease crippled the canine's ability to do just about anything. "For example, run in the park and play, go to the beach and run, catch frisbees, jump and do all the things that a young dog should be able to do," says Dr. Kathy Mitchener.

Just about the time Blue was starting to slow down, Dr. Mitchener was returning from Canada where she was certified in a technique called stem cell transplant. "The revolutionary part of this technique is you take cells from the patient, process them and then put those cells back into the patient in such a way they can actually re-generate their joint," says Mitchener.

She removed fat from Blue's abdomen, then sent it off to a lab to have it processed. Within days, the lab returned harvested stem cells that Mitchener injected into Blue's joints. "Within a couple days we started to see some pretty dramatic improvement," she says.

Blue went from dragging her hind quarters because walking was so painful, to once again chasing that frisbee.

The stem cells that helped Blue are not the embryonic stem cells you might be thinking of. "The controversy with embryonic stem cells is not there. I'm using her cells to help her," says Mitchener. "I can take an old dog who can't get up the steps anymore, doesn't jump in the car anymore, and whose quality of life has declined, and make them essentially new again."

A cycle of the treatment costs anywhere from two to four thousand dollars.

[Golden Rules]

I'd love to hear more about this treatment, if it really does make a difference there'd be many a happier dog in this world.

Even the cost isn't prohibitive if you have insurance.

I just took my boy to have accupuncture for his HD today and can't claim insurance because it is regarded as an 'alternative' treatment.

[Cavandra]

I posted this to some of my email lists earlier tonight, amazing how quick things travel LOL

Yes it works, and if it is $4000 in Canada/USA then it can be done much cheaper here....their prices are exorbitant as a rule........I know plenty of pet people who spend this amount trying to diagnose things....One last week rang me in distrees having spent $4000 trying to find out their Cavalier had Syringiomyelia.....Yep, thats what it was, but it is now dead at 17 months from a Grand Mal seizure............this condition has brain surgery in US & UK but not here.......Australia is very behind the times in alot of things Vet wise, we have very few "go getters" prepared to learn more, just usually happy to be a GP & a surgeon doing basic procedures.........There are peopel who will pay anythign to have their pet well again, but no experts here to do much or prepared to learn (((

[badboyz]

Thanks Cavandra and I hope you don't mind me posting it on here - but is sounded so interesting. I wondered if I should have waited to let the OP post it on here but was not sure you were a Doler or not. What bothers me most is that article is 4yrs old. Surely there must be a vet somewhere in Australia interested! Edited August 2, 2008 by badboyz

[Cavandra]

Thanks Cavandra and I hope you don't mind me posting it on here - but is sounded so interesting. I wondered if I should have waited to let the OP post it on here but was not sure you were a Doler or not. What bothers me most is that article is 4yrs old. Surely there must be a vet somewhere in Australia interested!

Not at all LOL

I havent heard of anyone having it done here, but this is what happened with the gold bead implants, people & dogs that have had it done are thrilled with the results, yet it is only done by one or possibly 2 Vet specialists here (not sure about how common it is in people).I heard about this many years ago, yet it is only now being talked about in Australia.

They are still using this stem cell treatment...I acttually have found articles that are from 2000........Now why isnt it offered here after all the years I wonder??? Perhaps someone does know of an Aussie vet who will do it.I have clients who are suffering HD that would have this done.

Another story

[Scarlettsmum]

I would be interested to know how it works. Does it regenerate bone around the head of the femur so it fits more securely in the socket and can't slip out or what? I just can't imagine how it works.........does anybody know?

[Cavandra]

The Royal Melbourne Hospital has performed the world's first implant of cultured specialist stem cells into an orthopaedic patient who suffered a broken femur nine months ago which failed to heal.

Mr Richard de Steiger, the Director of Orthopaedics at the hospital, performed the operation as an alternative to the standard bone graft which requires a separate incision and is potentially associated with other complications.

"If successful this procedure may significantly reduce or eliminate long-term patient complications while decreasing length of stay in hospital and costs associated with the treatment of long bone fractures," said Mr de Steiger.

The operation, performed on Friday 31 March 2006, is part of a groundbreaking clinical trial underway at The Royal Melbourne Hospital involving the use of adult stem cells in the treatment of patients suffering non-healing of bone fractures.

The patient, who suffered a non-healing fracture of his femur nine months ago, is in a stable condition after the procedure and is expected to be released from hospital soon.

The trial is a world first use of technology developed by Australian company, Mesoblast Limited, in an orthopaedic environment. This technology is used to select and expand extremely rare adult stem cells and is a very promising area of regenerative medicine.

Millions of people worldwide suffer from non-healing of long bone fractures; a painful condition mainly associated with accident victims. It is a major cost to health authorities globally.

For this type of non-healing defect, a bone graft using a large amount of bone taken from the patient's own hip would usually be considered. However, this often results in long-term complications including pain and possible infection.

The trial of up to 10 patients at the Royal Melbourne Hospital is an independent assessment of the safety of Mesoblast's specialist adult stem cell technology.

http://www.mh.org.au

[Cavandra]

I would be interested to know how it works. Does it regenerate bone around the head of the femur so it fits more securely in the socket and can't slip out or what? I just can't imagine how it works.........does anybody know?

yes they regenerate & can change unlike other cells can......They are trying to use stem cells to rejuvenate dead tissue in humans, like organs, heart attack, stroke etc..........Once brain cells are dead they are dead....But with this treatment if they can fine tune it will see those days gone.......

What is nice about these sorts of treatments is that it is pretty natural........The trouble is that often these types of treatments dont make the light of day, as Drug companies can not patent natural things...an example of this is Hemp oil......It grows naturally so it cant be patented.......It cures virtually every disease & condtion known to man, yet it is illegal!!!! Another Cancer treatment is human Breast Milk........again they cant make money out of it so you never hear about it........

[LoremIpsum]

Interesting. Many thanks for posting.

What is the success rate, I wonder.

[InspectorRex]

Wonderful news but alas I agree Canavndra- not enough Vets here in Oz willing to learn

Maybe you could email the details to speciclaist ortho Vets like Dr Mark Foley and Dr Ray Ferguson at Monash Vet Clinic here in Vic as I know them personally and are leaders in their field and willing to learn new procedures. Dr Ferguson has not long come back from a trip he made to further his knowledge

[Charles Kuntz]

Hi, Charles Kuntz here. I am a specialist veterinary surgeon in Melbourne. I have just been contacted by Axtrim Group, a company that plans to introduce stem cell implants for dogs with arthritis in Australia. I met with them to discuss the benefits of the procedure, and whether or not I would be interested in participating. There is no one actively doing stem cell implants in dogs in Australia. I have not "jumped on the bandwagon" at this time.

As far as evidence that it works, there are a lot of anecdotal reports, but few controlled studies. I did review one study from the US which is authored by some very reputable people, two of which are friends of mine. They reported 20 dogs which showed a significant improvement in function in dogs with hip dysplasia treated with stem cells. This was a "double blinded" controlled study which adds to its credibility. There were some statistical problems with the study as I saw it, but in general, it does support the use of stem cells for the treatment of arthritis in dogs. The reported mechanism of action is that the stem cells may "immunomodulate" the joint meaning that they can suppress nasty chemicals in the joint that occur with inflammation and enhance nice chemicals. It is also possible that they may allow healthy cells to graft into the joint.

The study is by Black etal, Veterinary Therapeutics Vol 8 No 4 WInter 2007. Effect of Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem and regenerative cells on lameness in dogs with chronic osteoarthritis...

Incidentally, the guys at Monash Vet Clinic are not orthopaedic specialists. They are just great vets.

Charles Kuntz

[Nekhbet]

Again people look at the end of the rope instead of the beginning

we should be looking at decreasing the incidence of HD in our breeds. And what happens to dogs like mine who have very little in the way of an acetabulum? Maybe in mild HD with reasonably formed femoral head and acetabulum and mild DJD the money is worth taking a pot shot on.

I would like to know what treatments they also tried on the GSD and the degree of HD/DJD the dog had before and after the treatment.

I lost a battle with one dog to HD/ED this year and now fighting the battle with an 11 month old Rottweiler who our new vet describes as a 'bag of bones' his structure is so poor. I would rather breeders had taken more care then me keep forking out hand over fist (nothing against vets)

[Charles Kuntz]

Regarding prevention of hip dysplasia, PennHip appears to have made some headway in prevention of hip dysplasia in at-risk breeds. The way this works is that it is an objective measurement of hip laxity (the primary cause of hip dysplasia) at a time when you can decide whether or not to breed the animal. It is accurate at about 6 months, compared with OFA extended-hip views which are only taken at 2 years, and which, incidentally, have not made ANY gains in reducing the incidence of hip dysplasia in the last 50 years. In an experimental study, hip dysplasia was eliminated in a line of labradors in just 2 generations, using PennHip to decide which dogs to breed.

I am not PennHip certified, but there are vets in Australia who are.

Charles Kuntz

[Nekhbet]

My old boss is a PennHip vet and most of the time packed off the dog to have preventative surgery

I do think that PennHip will go a long way in helping people decide breeding stock and help the dog before symptoms occur. Because of 3 different x-rays instead of the traditional extended view, in which some vets missed subtle signs, I would hold more faith in a diagnosis. Saying that both of my dogs x-rays where like being whacked in the face with a baseball bat hehe. As for traditional scoring, I think the score that some breeders have allowed for breeding stock has gone some way in the existance of HD in some breeds as well, as I know some breed averages are accepted as higher then others. Wouldnt we all aim for a 0:0?

[CavsRcute]

Today I had my girl at the vets for her acupuncture for HD. It was the first time I had seen this particular vet and as we were having a general chat, I asked about stem cell transplant for HD and he told me they have already done the transplants on 50 dogs, and 49 had great results.

He has also given me the names of owners of two dogs who have had the procedure done, and I will ring them in the next week or so. One is a lady I know in a round about way, and she is a straight talker, so I will be interested in hearing her opinion

[Charles Kuntz]

This has been done 50 times in Australia??? I believe this is new technology here which has not yet been attempted. It is fairly commonplace in the US.

Charles

[CavsRcute]

This has been done 50 times in Australia??? I believe this is new technology here which has not yet been attempted. It is fairly commonplace in the US.

Charles

This is what the vet told me yesterday

[Erny]

He has also given me the names of owners of two dogs who have had the procedure done, and I will ring them in the next week or so. One is a lady I know in a round about way, and she is a straight talker, so I will be interested in hearing her opinion

This thread brought to my attention due to another thread in 'General'.

Any news from the owners of the two dogs who had this procedure done, CavsRcute?

[juice]

already posted in general, but i know of one who had it done 2/3 weeks ago

[morgan]

Sounds hopeful - this technology has been used to repair leg injuries in competition horses in the UK for a while, apparently with a good success rate.