NAME: Elena Gologan

COUNTRY: Romania

AGE: 1.5

DIAGNOSIS: Spinal Muscular Atrophy – Type 1

REASON FOR COMING FOR TREATMENT: About two months after Elena was born, her parents noticed that she was not reaching the standard benchmarks for children her age. She could not role herself over and seemed to have no control of her arms. After four months she still had failed to make any progress. Unlike other children her age, she could not sit up or hold her head up by herself. After going to many doctors, Elena was finally diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at 11 months. After failing to find any effective treatment at home, her mother brought her to China in October 2007.

TREATMENT: Umbilical cord stem cell and nerve growth factor injections with rehabilitation therapy

BEFORE THE TREATMENT (11/10/2007): Elena had very little control of any of the muscles in her body. Her mother must help her to do everything. She can only hold her head up straight for a short period of time and she can only sit up on a chair if someone is helping her. She can move her legs slightly but cannot use them to stand up, crawl or even role herself over. Only with help is she able to lift her arms up and she can only play with the lightest toys. She has more control of her right arm, but almost no control of her left. Her neck muscles are also very week and she cannot move her head from side to side. She can only eat very soft food, and she tires easily. Her intellect is normal and she loves to talk.

AFTER THE TREATMENT

After Second Treatment (4/27/08)

Elena returned to China for a second round of stem cell treatments in May, 2008. Back in Romania between her stem cell treatments, her parents stated that they saw a steady improvement in her condition. They felt that her overall strength improved greatly along with her range of movement. She was able to sit for almost 30 minutes in contrast to be before when she could only sit up for only a few seconds. Her arm movement also increased, she was able to grasp objects and bring them to her mouth and she could hold her arms out above her chest for longer periods of time. She was also able to start to support her weight with her hands when she was in a crawling position. These changes let Elena’s parents teach her more and she now leads a more independent life. The parents stated that all of this made them want to bring her for the second treatment.

After First Treatment (11/10/2007)

By the end of a month in China, Elena had made great progress. She had much greater control of all the muscles in her body and was much stronger overall than before. She was now able to sit up without support and hold her head upright for extended periods of time. She was able to move her head from side to side repeatedly, before she had only been able to move it to one side, but not back. After the treatment she was able to hold her arms out by herself, especially her right arm, though she also got more improvement in her left one. She was also able to move her arms across her chest and touch her shoulder, something she had never been able to do before. She had more power in her leg muscles and was able to use them to push against things.

Videos of Elena after the treatment:

Elena holding her arms out: Liftiing hand, Extending hand, Lifting toy
Elana reaching across her body: Reaching
Elana moving her head and sitting: Looking
Elana reaching out and grabbing something: Grasping

Elena and her mom in their room at the hospital

Elena doing standing therapy in order to increase the strength on her leg and trunk muscles

Elena working her arms during physical therapy

Carrie, Elena's personal physical therapist, giving Elena a massage

Elena out with her mom and another Romanian Patient Gabi at West Lake

Elena talking on the phone with her dad

Elena, her mom and Carrie, her physical herapist at Elena's going away party