Havana, Oct 5 (Prensa Latina) With around 8,300 patients treated with stem cells, Cuba shows results comparable to those reported by countries highly developed, reported today the Granma newspaper.
First used in Cuba in 2004, this advanced scientific procedure for regenerative medicine is applied in 14 out of the 15 Cuban provinces, being the specialties of Orthopedics and Traumatology, and Angiology, those with the largest number of cases handled.
Porfirio Hernández, Ph.D., deputy director of Research at the Institute of Hematology and Immunology, told the newspaper that so far there are encouraging results in patients with bone cysts, complex bone fractures, pseudarthrosis and osteoarthritis of the knee, among other orthopedic ailments.
Similarly, stem cell therapy shows promising prospects in patients suffering from severe arterial insufficiency of the lower limbs, when amputation in 73 percent of those who had indicated was avoided.
Also, in cases with chronic arterial insufficiency that forced patients many times to stop the step due to the severe pain after walking just 150 meters on level ground, 85 percent of those treated experienced a significant improvement and could expand that distance without expressing discomfort.
At the moment, the use of stem cells is done through research projects including a limited number of people and not as a massive treatment, until there is enough evidence to substantiate the absolute safety and efficacy of this method.
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