“Latest Stem Cells News”

Italy is the top country in the world for hematopoietic stem cell transplants per million inhabitants, said Alessandro Nanni Costa, the director of the National Transplant Center (CNT), presenting data today in Rome from a study by the Welfare Minister on umbilical cord stem cells.

Italy boasts a registry of 370,000 healthy adults available to donate blood stem cells.

The units of umbilical cord blood preserved in Italian biobanks number 17,503, while in 2008, only 141 were used in Italy or abroad.

The objective is to reach 80,000-90,000 units of umbilical cords preserved from which blood stem cells can be removed for transplants. In Italy there are 18 biobanks for the conservation of umbilical cords that must be reorganize and expanded to reach areas where there are no centers, such as Sardinia.

Michela and Alessandro from Sassari (Sardinia) are Kevin’s parents, a 2 age old child suffering from spastic quadriparesis and optic nerve hypoplasia (blindness). Since he was born he endured 4 surgeries: kidneys, heart, bladder tumor and genital rebuilding.
Then Bangkok. And now the parents are hoping.
But Kevin is not alone because there are more than 100 Italian citizens treated with chinese cord stem cells in Bangkok’s hospital.