Dying Tissue, Rest Pain Leg Symptoms Alleviated

     Florida Mom with Peripheral Artery Disease uses her Own Stem Cells to Repair Leg Damage

Pain in her leg at night while at rest, leg weakness, dead tissue and a sizable hole in her shin, cramping in her lower leg when walking (claudication), discoloration and discomfort in one foot. These were the painful and rapidly escalating symptoms of severe peripheral artery disease (PAD) suffered by Carla, a 47-year-old mom from Florida. Interestingly, Carla was able to find relief of these symptoms and save her leg from amputation, but only after sourcing the information herself, speaking to physicians and references, and traveling to a jurisdiction where she could receive her own stem cells.

Carla's leg has been improving since her own stem cells were used to repair her damaged leg. A groundbreaking medical therapy, VesCell PAD, created by TheraVitae Co. Ltd., is a painless treatment of peripheral arterial disease where the patient's blood is used as the source of stem cells, which are injected into the effected area.

     Bypass Left PAD Patient with No Options

Carla, shown at right with members of TheraVitae's medical team, was at her wit's end in February 2008. A second bypass surgery of her left leg, to revascularize it and generate blood flow into it, was inconclusive. During that surgery, doctors in the US transplanted an artery from her right leg into her left leg. However, circulation into her left leg didn't improve and healing of the incisions was very slow and painful. 

"I went to my surgeon's office to have them look at one of the incisions created during my last procedure," Carla recalls. "He cut the scab off and dry-packed the wound and told me to repack it twice a day with gauze, which grossed me out. He put me on antibiotics for two weeks and scheduled a recheck."

Carla decided to be proactive. She began with Google to find other treatments for her deteriorating leg. It was there she came across VesCell.com the company's website related to the medical procedure known as VesCell PAD. Carla learned that the procedure would involve a blood-donation-type draw of blood from her arm and injection of her stem cells six days later. It is from the patient's blood that the company derives stem cells targeted to rebuild vascularization in the area of arterial damage, which they ship back to a treating physician, who injects them into the patient's limb(s). It was for this treatment that Carla, with her husband and daughter, decided to travel to Thailand.

"What did I have to lose at this point?" Carla asked treating physicians, when she met them in Thailand for the VesCell PAD treatment in the summer of 2008. "My [leg] artery deterioration was progressing quickly, and it was obvious to me I would lose my left leg to amputation within a year." The severity of Carla's PAD condition was caused by many factors including juvenile diabetes since age 11, hypertension and hyperlipidemia, and from being a longtime pack-a-day smoker.

The treatment process holds the promise to address the diabetes epidemic, is a treatment for the prevention of late-stage peripheral arterial disease, and a viable alternative to the series of amputations patients currently undergo. Like Carla, patient symptoms typically include reduced or non-existent blood flow to the big toe, then foot, then lower leg.

TheraVitae Company Ltd. commercialized VesCell as a treatment of PAD and as a treatment of end-stage heart disease. The company is supported by physicians, hospital groups, and former patients who volunteer their time to speak to fellow sufferers of PAD and end-stage heart disease, to help them understand the experience. The company's clinical trial results and science are published in the Asian Cardiovascular & Thoracic Annals (PDF) (2008, Vol. 16, No. 2) and British Journal of Haematology. (PDF)

     Adult Stem Cell Patient is Back Home and Thriving

Carla is back home and thriving, working multiple jobs with gusto. Her pre-departure wounds have progressively healed and she is feeling much better. Once again Carla is feeling positive about her health, her mobility and her prospects for keeping her legs.

Reached at work by her TheraVitae patient care coordinator, the following are the highlights that Carla wanted to share: "I just want to express how grateful I am for all you have done. Your care and attention to details was wonderful...We had a great experience with our travel, care and treatment...My improvement is so vast that I no longer pack the wound on my left leg - it's not deep enough. My big toe is also healing and I no longer have the neuropathy (rest pain). I feel it's my duty to tell everyone, including testifying before Congress. Thank you!"