Andhra Pradesh - Tirupati   

Jakkampudi ‘first in the world’ to undergo stem cell therapy

-Photo: K.V. Poornachandra Kumar

Road to recovery: Minister for Roads and Buildings Jakkampudi Ramamohana Rao at SVIMS in Tirupati on Monday.

TIRUPATI: Minister for Roads and Buildings Jakkampudi Ramamohana Rao becomes the first patient in the world to undergo stem cell therapy for a neurological disorder called ‘Mitochondrial Cytopathy’.

He landed at the TTD-run super specialty hospital, Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) after visiting the USA, Japan and China, where the treatment is still in the nascent stage.

SVIMS University Hospital, which has done pioneering work in ‘Stem Cell Research’ during the last six years, has come to the rescue of the ailing Minister. Mr. Rao, who was admitted here three days back for treatment, is now said to be stable. The Transfusion Department has identified and isolated the adult stem cell from his blood, while the doctors have injected Granulocyte Coloni-stimulating Factor (GCF) for three days in the vertebral artery going to the brain.

As the cerebellum part of his brain has been found to be weak, the stem cell is being injected close to the affected area.

“While stem cell therapy is available for Alzheimer’s disease, trauma of spinal cord, ischaemic attack (brain stroke) across the globe, it is for the first time that the therapy is being administered for Mitochondrial Cytopathy,” SVIMS Director and Vice-Chancellor G.Subramanyam told The Hindu on Monday.

The treatment is expected to improve his clinical condition in two months.

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