Read the ABC News Story

ABC News Health highlighted a Regenexx Patient and the Centeno-Schultz Clinic in a recent news article about Stem Cell treatments. Click here to read the ABC News story.

Prior to ABC’s story, we  blogged about Pat’s experience vs. that of her friend, who chose to undergo surgery. Read on…

Recently we saw Pat (she has given us permission to use her name) for moderate knee osteoarthritis. The story of Pat and her friend is very interesting, so she recently wrote us a letter and I wanted to highlight it here. She met with her friend Jo last July for lunch. During that meeting, she learned that both of them had been told they needed a knee replacement. While Pat had done research on the internet and looked for alternatives to knee surgery, Jo stated that after discussing the pros and cons of both, she would stick with what she called the “old tried and true method of surgery”. So Jo went off to get a knee replacement and Pat decided to have us inject her own stem cells into the knee. Pat’s friend hasn’t had a good time of it (letter from Pat about knee replacement surgery vs stem cell injections linked here). First, during the knee replacement surgery her nerve was tragically severed. Because of the extended immobilization in the hospital bed (she couldn’t walk because her toes no longer worked), Jo then developed blood clots in her legs which traveled to her lungs (called pulmonary embolism, a common complication of knee replacement and hip replacement surgeries). One month after the knee replacement surgery, they were still trying to get the medication dosing right to dissolve Jo’s blood clots. As I’ve blogged before, in the Medicare population alone in the year 2008, 27,500 people had serious complications from knee replacement (which includes 5,000 deaths). How did Pat do with her much less invasive stem cell injection procedure? Pat walked into the clinic and was examined. Based on her MRI images, a musculoskeletal ultrasound examination, and physical exam, we planned what type of stem cells to use and where exactly they would go. The patient had a Regenexx-AD and Regenexx-SD procedure (both injections). She walked out of the clinic both times, with a brace on her leg and she was never bed ridden. Let me use her own words:

“My experience with the Centeno-Schultz Clinic has been so positive I almost feel guilty when I visit Jo. It’s embarrassing that I’m walking around her, free of pain, on a knee that’s already fixed, while she’s in a world of trouble. It’s revolutionary in my mind that my knee corrected after only two treatments. I’m so impressed that you could place my own stem cells in precisely the right place using ultra sound, and that you did it all with only minimal pain to me.”

While these two patients aren’t a representative scientific sample, we have published and continue to publish our complication rates, which are dramatically less than knee replacement surgery. What this tale of two friends does illustrate, is what we believe is a better way to approach some patients who have been told they need knee replacement surgery.

John S. benefited from Regenexx-SCP after a snow mobile accident caused a torn medial meniscus and MCL. “…I’m back on the road bike logging lots of base miles and looking forward to a great cycling season! Thanks Doc! NO SURGERY NEEDED!”

Case:

MW is a 57 year old white male first seen by our clinic in July of 2010. He had severe arthritis in the medial (inside) compartment and an ACL deficient knee (ACL stabilizing ligament was gone). After an evaluation in the office, he was told he was a poor candidate for our same day stem cell injection based procedure for his knee. Despite being a poor candidate, he didn’t want a knee replacement, so he chose to proceed knowing that a positive outcome was doubtful. He underwent two Regenexx-SD procedures, where a bone marrow aspirate was taken from the back of his hip using imaging guidance, the stem cells concentrated in our level III lab, and then re-injected under imaging guidance. We recieved this e-mail from the patient just this last week:

“It is now 11 weeks since my second sd treatment and I am pain free in my knee. I walk 6-7 miles playing golf, carrying my clubs, four time each week. This has been an amazing recovery. Thanks.”

So what happened? Did we grow MW a new knee? No, based on the basic science research, it’s likely the stem cells have helped to improve the overall health of cartilage and meniscus in the knee, perhaps added better blood supply to certain areas, and modulated the chronic inflammation. We also looked at many other aspects of why his knee may be painful. The end result is that MW’s severe knee arthritis surprised us with a great response to treatment. As I have discussed in the past, we grade patients for our knee stem cell injection procedure more severely, often placing them in the poor candidacy category for our procedure if there’s any doubt.

We recently blogged on how the Regenexx procedures were helping Jarvis Green (a professional football player) get back to his game. Jarvis was a 2 time super bowl champion defensive lineman (previously with the New England Patriots from 2002-2009 and a free agent with the Broncos in 2010) who had failed lateral meniscus surgery on his knee. As a result of his failed knee surgery, he missed three games and was cut by the Broncos this year. Jarvis had the Regenexx-C, Regenexx-SD, and Regenexx-PL procedures to try to get him back to playing football. We are proud to report today that he was signed today by the Houston Texans, passed a team physician physical, and states that he was able to try out in full form without limitations. He attributes his ability to get back to playing to the Regenexx family of procedures. Go Jarvis!

GK is a middle aged long distance runner and cyclist who had knee surgery several years ago to “repair” a meniscus tear. Regrettably there wasn’t much repair and the surgeon removed most of his remaining medial meniscus. As discussed in earlier posts, the removal of knee meniscus tissue during arthroscopy can lead to big problems down the road and an advancement in the pace of wear and tear arthritis. This left him with pain on running, cycling, going up/down stairs, and an inability to exercise at high levels. He sought our help for stem cell injections into the knee, hoping to rebuild the meniscus. While we informed GK that rebuilding his largely absent meniscus was highly unlikely with a stem cell injection, he also had an ACL ligament that was likely stretched at the same time as his knee meniscus was injured and chondromalacia under the knee cap. We felt that that the injection of stem cells using the Regenexx-SD procedure into the ACL may provide better tissue integrity for the ligament and better stability for the knee. In addition, using the same cells and injecting these under the knee cap may improve the overall health of this deteriorating cartilage. The patient underwent several injections of his own bone marrow aspirate derived stem cells into the ACL and patello-femoral joint using sophisticated imaging guidance to ensure that the cells were in the correct location, with his last on 11/17/10. Here’s is his report of progress to date:

While Dr. Centeno informed me that he couldn’t help me on the meniscus, since most of it had been removed, he was able to diagnose, and resolve other issues in my knee that were causing me pain.  I had significant laxity in my ACL, and cartilage issues on the back on my patella.  I’ve since undergone two stem cell treatments to address these two problems.  I had the last injection on 11/17.  I’m happy to report that my knee is doing GREAT.  Before the procedure, my knee felt completely unstable going down steps.  I also had significant pain cycling.   Now I’m able to do just about anything without any pain at all.  I’m absolutely thrilled with the results I’ve experienced.

“I’ve had pain in both of my knees for the last 10 years. It began when I was in the Army, and I was finding it harder and harder to do all the lifting, running and physical exercise that I needed to do. I went to the Army doctors, who told me I had osteoarthritis in both knees, but there wasn’t much I could do. Even the Army medical review board simply remarked in my record that I couldn’t do some of the physical requirements because of my knee pain, but they didn’t offer any solutions.

I went to the Army doctors, who told me I had osteoarthritis in both knees, but there wasn’t much I could do. Even the Army medical review board simply remarked in my record that I couldn’t do some of the physical requirements because of my knee pain, but they didn’t offer any solutions.

Since then, I’ve been doing lot of physical therapy, but that only helps so much. I’m not much of a medicine taker, so I usually just worked through the pain. I’d have good days and bad days, but the pain was always there.

I heard about Dr. Centeno and Regenerative Sciences through a personal friend. I went in and talked to them, and they explained how the procedure worked and their expected outcome. I liked the fact that I wouldn’t be off work or laid up for the procedures, so we decided to go ahead and do the right knee first.

We did the right knee in March 2007. I was off my feet for about an hour after each of the treatments, but that was it. No long recovery time, no time off from work – it was great. The cartilage began to grow back, and the knee was feeling much better, so we did the left knee in October. Since about two weeks later, I haven’t had any pain at all in either knee for the first time in 10 years. It’s fantastic.

I dealt with the knee pain and the problems for a long time, and nobody had come up with a solution that made any sense to me until I went to these folks. I would absolutely recommend that anybody with osteoarthritis check out Dr. Centeno and Regenerative Sciences.”

This patient was treated with the Regenexx-C (cultured stem cell injections). Not all knee patients can be expected to get these same results.

When my orthopedic doctor performed arthroscopic surgery on the knee, he was surprised at the amount of damage – I was basically down to bone-on-bone in the knee. He said that short of a total knee replacement, there weren’t any treatments that would help me.

I was doing a one-legged squat during one of my conditioning courses when I tore the meniscus in my right knee. After that, I was constantly in pain. My knee was swollen, and it got to where I couldn’t even get up from squatting down without having to pull myself up. I couldn’t do my self-defense and conditioning courses, and there was no way I could snowboard.

When my orthopedic doctor performed arthroscopic surgery on the knee, he was surprised at the amount of damage – I was basically down to bone-on-bone in the knee. He said that short of a total knee replacement, there weren’t any treatments that would help me.

At the same time, I had also been a patient of Dr. Centeno’s, and I found out about his cartilage regeneration procedure. My orthopedic surgeon encouraged me to try the procedure, so we went ahead with it in early 2007.

I was amazed at how quick, painless and non-debilitating the whole thing was. I had four bone marrow draws and two stem cell injections, with only a small bruise after any of the procedures. I was back on my feet one hour after each treatment. Even my co-nurses at the hospital couldn’t believe it.

Still more amazing, however, were the results. After the third week, the swelling was completely gone, and my knee actually looked like a knee again. We did an MRI a little while later and found 20 percent regeneration in the cartilage, so I asked if we could do another round of the procedure, which we did in June.

Now, I’m back to my conditioning classes, doing squats, lunges, jumping rope and even a little bit of jogging. My knee feels, looks and works better every day. I’m definitely looking forward to the winter and getting back on my snowboard as soon as I can.

I would recommend the Regenexx-C procedure in a heartbeat to anyone who’s dealing with joint injuries or osteoarthritis. It’s put me on track to getting my life back to where I want it.”

This patient was treated with the Regenexx-C cultured stem cell injections and not Regenexx-SD. Not every knee patient can expect to get this same result.

Right before I met with Dr. Centeno for the first time, I had just gone back in to get my knee re-evaluated. My physician planned to inject the knee with Hyalgan and there was nothing else they could do. The next step was to replace the knee.

Then one of my neighbors told me about the treatment he had undergone at Regenerative Sciences. After Dr. Centeno’s team did an MRI and explained the procedure to me, I went ahead and had the Regenexx-C procedure done.

Three weeks after the procedure I started feeling something. It was really quick. At six weeks, my MRI results showed that I had re-growth in the surface area of the cartilage in my knee, and I also had growth in the volume. During my exams, my results were getting consistently better. I gained 39 degrees of additional range of motion in the knee that they treated.

Now, 8 months later, I’ve experienced considerable improvement. At first, I couldn’t walk without a limp and had a hard time going up and down stairs. Now, I just started playing ice hockey again. I’m much more active now than I used to be, and I don’t have nearly as much pain. In fact, I’ve gone from having chronic pain every day to many days of having no pain at all.

I’ve only had one knee treated, and we’re thinking about doing the other one. When patients get to a point in their treatment where they’re out of options, Regenexx-C is definitely worth exploring.”

This patient was treated with the Regenexx-C cultured stem cell injections and not Regenexx-SD. Not all knee patients can expect this same result.

Given the minimally invasive nature of the procedure and the outstanding results, I would highly recommend it for anyone.

In August 2006, I suffered a severe arm fracture that required surgery with a stabilizing plate and nine screws.
After nine months, the “non-union” fracture was still not healed.
While the hardware held it in place, I had pain and decreased use of the arm, and I was at risk for worse injury if I were to fall or otherwise hurt the arm before the bone could heal. After trying a bone stimulator for many months, calcium supplements, physical therapy and being in casts, braces and splints, I was at my wits’ end. My orthopedic surgeon had little to offer other than trying to insert a piece of cadaver bone where the bone was not growing back together. Needless to say, after having no success with the first surgery, I had little hope that another procedure would be effective, and I dreaded yet another long recovery.

After having no success with the first surgery, I had little hope that another procedure would be effective, and I dreaded yet another long recovery.

Then, I met with Dr. Centeno to discuss the Regenexx-C procedure, which is much less invasive than surgery. My surgeon was skeptical but gave me the go ahead. In April 2007, I had the marrow drawn and was surprised at how simple it was. It felt like a deep cramp, and the site was a bit tender to the touch later that night and the next day, but I was easily able to work and do my usual activity. About three weeks later, Dr. Centeno injected the stem cells directly into the part of the fracture that would not heal, under X-ray, with a local anesthetic. Once again, this part of the procedure caused very little pain. The site was achy and swollen later that night and into the next day, but again, it was nothing that ice, rest and some Tylenol could not handle.

Four weeks later I saw my orthopedic surgeon and had a new X-ray. The bone was finally growing and in fact had healed more in the four weeks after the Regenexx-C procedure than had occurred the previous nine to 10 months! I was amazed and very pleased with the results. In just four weeks, the fracture site that wouldn’t grow was almost completely filled in. My surgeon was impressed, as well.

My pain level decreased, my range of motion improved, and 12 weeks later, I am back to almost all my regular activities. The most recent X-ray (16 weeks after stem cell injection) shows the fracture is healed, and my surgeon has discharged me.

Regenexx-C did what nothing else could. Given the minimal invasiveness of the procedure and the outstanding results, I would highly recommend it for anyone.”

This patient was treated with the Regenexx-C cultured stem cell injections and not Regenexx-SD. In addition, not every fracture patient is expected to get this same result.

- Alice Zuvers

This patient was treated with the Regenexx-C cultured stem cell injections and not Regenexx-SD. Also, please note that not every patient can expect to get this same result.