Steam Cells Have a Future in Camagüey

Camagüey province intends to develop the procurement of stem cells in an effort to regenerate the patient’s peripheral blood, a procedure that has been successfully used in Cuba to treat bone injuries and others.

This treatment is used in the field of Orthopaedics and Traumatology to reduce the aseptic necrosis of the femoral head. What they want now is to use it too when there’s knee osteoarthrosis, because it is a non invasive procedure which have proven to be efficient.

In the view of some local specialist, once the physical and complementary examinations on the patient are done, a blood sample is drawn to extract concentrations of stem cells and then the plasma and the red blood cells are returned to patients.

Afterwards, the knee infiltration is done, and in a few hours the patient begins to feel a gradual pain relief and vital functions in the damaged area are restored.

Aside from the benefits for the patient, this contributes to save resources, especially because medical services are free in Cuba, and the imported prostheses are very expensive on the international market. In other countries, for instance, putting on a prosthesis and rehab could cost around $ 40,000.

Previously, specialists of Eduardo Agramonte Piña Children’s Hospital, in the city of Camagüey, had used haematopoietic stem cells, that is to say, cells drawn directly from the patient’s bone marrow.    

At present, the regenerative medicine practiced in Cuba also reaps benefits to people suffering from arterial insufficiency and to diabetic patients with vascular disorders.(Radio Cadena Agramonte)