September 10, 2019

expert reaction to Michael Schumacher’s treatment in a Paris hospital

It has been reported that the Formula 1 racing driver Michael Schumacher is being treated at a hospital in Paris. In 2013 he suffered severe head injuries in a skiing accident.

Dr Alena Pance, Senior Staff Scientist, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said:

“I work on Stem Cell Biology though I am not an expert cardiologist, but as the treatment is secret, there isn’t much information available. Dr Menasché has extensive record on cellular and acellular therapy strategies for heart repair. The latest article he published earlier this year with the Embryonic Stem Cell Working Group formed by colleagues from all over Europe, discusses the potential of these technologies in the clinic. The conclusion seems to be that the techniques used until recently were unsatisfactory mainly due to low survival rate of the transplanted cells. They also describe exciting novel strategies to improve clinical outcomes of cell therapy in the heart, particularly developments in tissue engineering*.”

*’ESC Working Group on Cellular Biology of the Heart: position paper for Cardiovascular Research: tissue engineering strategies combined with cell therapies for cardiac repair in ischaemic heart disease and heart failure.’ Madonna et al Cardiovasc Res. 2019 Mar 1;115(3):488-500. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvz010.

Declared interests

Dr Alena Pance: None