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Introduction:There have been attempts to alter the prognosis of severe spinal cord injury in different centers, but none of which have reliably altered the outcome. Some trials use stem cells (SCs) that produced widely differing results. We hereby add our experience in our center of a surgical reconstruction of the damaged spinal cord using a mixture of SCs and Platelet-Rich Protein (PRP) with fibrin coated as a biological scaffold.Materials and Methods:Four cases of severely damaged spinal cord have been operated for neurolysis and reconstruction of the spinal cord using SCs and platelet-rich protein (PRP) with fibrin coated harvested from the peripheral circulation of the patient. PRP serves to maintain the position of the SCs. One milliliter suspension contains an average of 2.8 × 106 of autologous hematopoietic SCs. Patients were intraoperatively monitored by somatosensory evoked potential, motor evoked potentials, and delta wave. They are clinically followed postoperatively and electromyogram was repeated every 2 weeks. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was repeated regularly. The patients are followed up for a period between 2 and 3 years.Results:One patient demonstrated motor and objective sensory improvement (P = 0.05), two other patients reported subjective sensory improvement, and the fourth one remained without any improvement (P = 0.1). None of these patients demonstrated any sign of deterioration or complication either on the surgery or on implanting of the SCs. MRI clearly proved that the inserted biological scaffold remained in place of reconstruction.Conclusion:SCs may play a role in restoring spinal cord functions. However, the unsolved problems of the use of SCs and related ethical issues should be addressed.

Intraparenchymal schwannomas are very rare tumors. We present a unique case of intracerebral schwannoma. We report a deep parietal peiventricular intraparenchymal schwannoma in a young adult patient with a history of slowly progressive hemiparesis. Magnetic resonance imaging scan revealed a round-shaped mass lesion in the right parietal periventricular area exhibiting low signal intensity in T1-weighted images and high signal intensity in T2-weighted images, and showed extensive perilesional edema. The lesion showed ring enhancement post gadolinium. It is important to recognize and distinguish a schwannoma from other more common brain tumors as the outcome is good and recurrence is rare.