Stem Cell Treatment for SCID Infants a Success

Stem cell transplants during the first 28 days after birth are 95% successful in curing infants with severe combined immunodeficiency, according to researchers at Duke University.

Infants who receive the transplants during that period have a more robust immune system than those who receive transplants later, the researchers report in the February issue of Blood.

Over the last 19 years, surgeons at Duke have performed stem cell transplants on 117 SCID patients. Of the 21 who received transplants in the first four weeks, 20 are still alive and leading normal lives. The oldest is 19 years old.

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Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II.