Abstract #1458

MR Monitoring of Minimally Invasive Delivery of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Into the Porcine Intervertebral Disc

Monika Barczewska¹, Joanna Wojtkiewicz¹, Aleksandra Habich¹, Miroslaw Janowski²,³, Zbigniew Adamiak⁴, Piotr Holak⁴, Hubert Matyjasik⁴, Jeff WM Bulte²,³, Wojciech Maksymowicz¹, Piotr Walczak²,³

¹Neurology and Neurosurgery, Division of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland; ²Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University; ³Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States; ⁴Surgery and Radiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland

Degenerative disc disease is related to substantial morbidity and no treatment exists that can restore disc structure. Stem cell-based therapy is a new promising therapeutic approach; however, for the use of stem cells a precise and minimally invasive cell delivery procedure is of critical importance. We show here that MR monitoring can be used to verify the accurate delivery of cells and provide a detailed picture of initial cell engraftment and biodistribution in a clinically relevant fashion.