Fetal Transplants in Huntington's Disease (AAN 2000)

Subject: Fetal Transplants in Huntington's Disease (AAN 2000)

Date: 5/6/2000

E-MOVE reports from the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, held in San Diego, California, 30 April-5 May 2000. Citation numbers below refer to abstracts of presentations and posters, which are published in Neurology 2000;54(suppl.3).

Pilot evaluation of human fetal striatal transplantation in Huntington's disease
RA Hauser, JA Stoessl, SR Eichler, SW Schwartz, PR Sanberg, S Saporta, M Nauert, T Randall, MA Hahn, DL Scott, TB Freeman
S25.004

Fetal transplantation may lead to modest motor improvements, but carries a high risk of subdural hematoma, according to this report.

Of 5 patients receiving solid fetal grafts to the striatum, two developed subdural hematomas. One was asymptomatic, while the other experienced cognitive decline that did not return to baseline following evacuation. For these 5 patients followed for at least 9 months, total UHDRS scores improved nonsignificantly, while Total Functional Capacity scores decreased nonsignificantly. At 12 months, four patients (not including the symptomatic SDH patient) showed a trend toward improved UHDRS (34.5 to 27.8, p=0.07), and nonsignificant improvements in TFC (6.5 to 7.5, p=0.18). "HD patients appear to be at increased risk for subdural hemorrhage," the authors note, "probably related to brain atrophy and associated intraoperative brain shift."

E-MOVE Editor: Richard Robinson, NASW, WE MOVE

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