Utero Stem Cell Test First to begin in UK and Sweden in January

For the first time, fetuses in the womb with brittle bone disease will be treated with stem cells.

The goal is that the cells, which can work in many tissues, will alleviate the symptoms of brittle bone disease, which is incurable.

 

The rare condition — which affects 1 in every 25,000 births — results from a genetic mutation and causes severe pain and broken bones.

Those afflicted often have additional medical ailments,

including bone fractures and hearing loss.

This trial will begin with the new year in the United Kingdom and Sweden.

Physicians in Sweden's Karolinka Institute and those at Great Ormond Street Hospital, a children's hospital in London, will use stem cells from terminated pregnancies.

"This project may be one of the first to show that certain conditions can begin to be treated prior to birth, leading to better outcomes for the child," according to Lyn Chitty of the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

In the trials, 15 babies will be treated with stem cells in utero and again when they are born. Another group of 15 will be treated after birth.

The health problems of both groups of babies will be chronicled and compared with those who have the same disease and were not treated.