After near-drowning, Michigan family tries cord blood study at Duke to help girl's brain damage
The Szura family from Michigan has spent a lot of time at Duke Children's Hospital with their 5-year-old daughter, Samantha.
As a toddler, Samantha was found face-down in a swimming pool, and she nearly died.
She was in a coma for a week at a Michigan hospital with a weak heartbeat.
“I started talking to her, and she suddenly got her heart rate back,” said Carrie Szura, Samantha’s mother.
Carrie and her husband, Steven, knew Samantha had brain damage, and that meant a lifetime of limitations.
“She can't walk, she can't talk, she can't feed herself,” Steven Szura said.
Then the couple learned that a decision they made 11 years ago after their first child's birth could mean a better quality of life for Samantha.
Using the cord blood stored from sister Allison, Samantha became part of a cord blood study at Duke.
In this study, the focus isn't on stem cells.
“It's a different cell, called a ‘monocyte,’ that is doing the work,” said Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, of Duke’s bone marrow transplant program.
Past research shows those cells release special chemicals, Kurtzberg said.
“That can go to the brain and stimulate the brain to make new connections in nerve fibers,” she said.
Allison’s cord blood is now going into Samantha’s body.
The infusion takes about 10 minutes.
The Szuras count themselves lucky to have a chance to help Samantha and others.
“We are really hopeful we are going to see some gains for Samantha, so it's a data point,” Steven Szura said. “So it could help other kids in the future.”
The Szuras are now on their way back home to Ann Arbor, Michigan. It will be a few months before they know if the procedure will help Samantha.
Similar cord blood research is also in progress for children with autism, cerebral palsy and hypoxic brain injuries.
